AI is everywhere, including in the art world.


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Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere.



At the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), we advocate for the responsible use and development of AI systems, addressing issues such as: how artificial intelligence can affect civil rights and economic inequality when making decisions such as job and insurance eligibility; how law enforcement's use of AI systems like facial recognition can threaten civil liberties; the government's use of AI in education, benefits programs, and other services; and AI's impact on online speech and information integrity.



We engage with a broad range of stakeholders on the issues and opportunities brought about by AI. This year, CDT has connected with multiple artists around the world who are using their work to explore critical themes, new artistic boundaries, and the impact that these systems will have on the world around us.



CDT is proud to bring together three D.C.-based artists -- Chris Combs, Billy Friebele, and Curry Hackett -- to explore algorithmic systems and themes at the heart of the technology policy discussions happening today. At our annual benefit tomorrow,
Tech Prom ([link removed]), CDT will feature these artists' works.



A preview of the exhibition is below; we hope you can join us in person tomorrow at Tech Prom to experience the art firsthand!




Chris Combs ([link removed])
explores themes of surveillance, privacy, and algorithmic failure. His sculptures address changes in our built technology environment--changes that often occur before we understand their implications. One of his two pieces, Pollination, reacts to viewers with facial recognition, motion sensing, and an AI speech transcription tool, analogizing the data that we spread when interacting in life to pollen: millions of invisible particles flowing in all directions with uncontrollable effects.



Quilted Imaginaries, the latest in an ongoing body of research and speculative work by
Curry J. Hackett ([link removed])
dealing with issues of Black culture, land, agency, geography, and mobility, uses artificial intelligence to dream up scenes of Black gatherings, architectures, and material languages in a speculative (yet plausible) "near-future." Even through the exploration of a world in which Black folks are left to their own devices building worlds that both invite, and are structured by softness, warmth, joy, and abundance, the imperfect bodies (and countless other bizarre iterations not shown in this project) are reminders that Black folks still go underseen in the logics that undergird many AI systems. Quilted Imaginaries, however, holds room for the possibility that this emergent technology, like many technologies before it, can amend the Black imagination and visibility in ways that benefit us all.



In Machines Learn from the River,
Billy Friebele ([link removed])
uses AI-generated images to explore the space between humans, technology, and the natural world, the fallacy of the line of demarcation that we draw between the natural and human realms, and the environmental impact of these systems. The work reminds the viewer that, while digital devices like AI appear to exist in disembodied spaces made up of code, circuitry, and electricity, the hardware is entirely reliant upon materials sourced from beneath the earth's surface like gold, copper, and cobalt. While AI is being used to monitor the health of rivers by determining where sewage pipes are cracking and analyzing large water quality data sets, AI tools also require massive amounts of water to cool supercomputers during training and querying.


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READ ([link removed])

CDT Welcomes White House Executive Order on AI


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READ ([link removed])

CDT Launches AI Governance Lab


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MEET ([link removed])

CDT AI Governance Lab Advisory Committee


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EXPLORE ([link removed])

Searchable Database of CDT's Work on AI


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READ ([link removed])

Alex Givens' Statement for the U.S. Senate AI Insight Forum on Innovation



If you're interested in learning more about these artists and how they connect their work with technology policy, please join us for the one-night only
Artists Exhibition at this year’s Tech Prom ([link removed]). Buy your tickets today.



Beyond Tech Prom, we recognize that now is an essential time to establish how AI is designed, deployed, and regulated--with the goal of promoting responsible innovation. CDT is at the forefront of these discussions, advocating to policymakers, engaging directly with companies about their practices, and conducting research and public advocacy to ensure artificial intelligence develops in a manner that is consistent with human rights and democratic values.


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