This text is part of the MUTEK special edition
Do new technologies submit to our good will, or are we at their mercy? Judging by our heads bent over our phones and our limited attention span, one might think we are surrendering to them.
All over the world, people are mobilizing to turn the tide and transform these new tools. Often designed to meet the race for profits rather than the common good, they quickly show their limitations, even their prejudices – far from being imagined by machines, they are often the ideological reflection of their creators.
It is this pernicious dynamic that the research-creation program is trying to shake up. Abundant Intelligencesan initiative of Jason Edward Lewis, a professor at Concordia University who specializes in digital cultures as well as indigenous cultures. These are his two passions that intertwine in this collective that brings together several university researchers, as well as many organizations from indigenous communities in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Their goal: to influence the (rapid) development of artificial intelligence (AI) by infusing it with new knowledge, other scientific approaches (such as neuroscience), and even ancestral traditions (those of indigenous communities, for example).
As part of the MUTEK Forum, five collaborators from this collective will have the opportunity to share their questions during a panel that will be held on August 23 at the Monument-National in Montreal. Among them, we will find DD Melanie Cheung, a Maori neurobiologist, and Maurice Jones, a producer and researcher, PhD candidate at Concordia University.
Beyond Mechanics
In interviews, both Melanie Cheung and Maurice Jones are keen to point out that they are not computer experts… which does not mean that they should exclude themselves from the debates surrounding AI. Their expertise makes them key players who can inject a real extra soul into it.
I quickly understood the potential of enriching AI with the wisdom of indigenous communities. […] I believe in the profound impact of the spiritual dimension of rituals and ceremonies.
Maurice Jones lived in Tokyo for several years in the 2010s, witnessing the emergence of AI there, at a time when it was not ” user-friendly “, “still far from what ChatGPT will be a little later”. He has seen artists take hold of it with creativity, in the music industry for example.
“They weren’t just developing artistic applications,” says the man who is now based in Montreal. “Artists bring a socio-critical point of view, and everyone benefits from it. Because we need to get out of this duality that AI represents either the devil or an all-powerful god. Since we don’t live in such a binary world, technologies are somewhere between these two poles, most often opting for a third way.”
Diversity in the age of AI
It was a surprise for Melanie Cheung to be invited to the collective Abundant Intelligences (“Computer coding is not my big passion!” she laughs), but her fascination with all the facets of the human brain, as well as the richness of her Maori culture, eliminated her resistance. “I didn’t know what my contribution could be, but I quickly understood the potential of enriching AI with the wisdom of indigenous communities. I have been working for a long time on the complexity of the brain with technological tools, and at the same time, I believe in the profound impact of the spiritual dimension of rituals, ceremonies. This is why I admire artists, including those in our collective, who see things in such a singular way.”
Does she also see this as an opportunity to continue the process of decolonizing institutions, and by extension, technologies? “Decolonization is often seen from a Western perspective,” emphasizes Melanie Cheung. “Including it in the AI space means discussing the injustices that Indigenous peoples experience, both in terms of housing and access to drinking water. For example, in Canada, if the databases only reflect the reality of whites and Anglo-Saxons, it’s difficult to talk about equity.”
For both researchers, the relevance of the collective Abundant Intelligences is indisputable, a small Trojan horse that can slip between two giants, according to Maurice Jones. “Multinationals and governments are investing billions of dollars in an industry that has not yet proven itself. Some companies are raking in the profits, and for many, that seems to justify the presence of AI. But artists, researchers, citizens, we all have our say: to understand how it all works, and to make sure it works for the benefit of all.”
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.