Theresa Reiwer
This talk explores the dual role of AI—first as a mirror of societal structures, then as a tool for speculative futures. Beginning with the spatial video essay Decoding Bias (2023, Ars Electronica, Lumen Prize Gold Award 2024 a.o.), Theresa highlights how AI reflects and perpetuates discrimination and marginalization, emphasizing its entanglement power structures of human society. The focus then shifts to her latest piece Lasting Generation (2024, Hauptstadtkulturfonds, Hebbel am Ufer), which envisions an AI not shaped by profit-driven tech corporations but one that fosters solidarity, advocates for non-human intelligence, and seeks more-than-human alliances. Through this transition, the talk questions AI’s role in shaping the world—not just reflecting what exists, but imagining what could be—while also shedding light on the ambivalences inherent in future-oriented technologies.