Conversations about AI and machine learning continue to permeate society, be it ChatGPT4, text-to-video generators such as Sora, or discussions surrounding fake news and copyright. AI is a phenomenal tool, but it also comes with opportunities and concerns that should be addressed. That is why we launched the Algorithmic Imaginings residency, which invites artists working at the intersection of art and technology to explore new avenues of thinking about AI and connect them to the research taking place at the SETI Institute. I can’t wait to see the work that will emerge from this residency. We have just selected our shortlist of nominees; stay tuned for the announcement of the winner in November!

Speaking of winners, we welcome our Cosmic Consciousness residency recipients - see who they are and catch up on the latest SETI AIR news and events in this issue of SETI AIR News.

Wishing you clear skies (and good comet-hunting!),
Bettina

Algorithmic Imaginings Art and AI residency nominees announced

The SETI Artist in Residence program is excited to announce Algorithmic Imaginings, a new residency that explores the impact of AI technologies on science and society. Areas of creative research engage with topics such as imaginary life, human-AI collaboration, AI futures, Posthumanism, AI and consciousness, and the ethics of AI data.

The residency’s team of advisors selected six outstanding media artists and invited them to submit a project proposal for the SETI AIR Algorithmic Imaginings residency. Internationally recognized media art curator Zhang Ga, the residency’s Lead Advisor, remarks “These artists are notable voices with a solid track record of critically and inventively confronting the pressing issues raised by a pervasively technological world.”

The six nominees of the Algorithmic Imaginings residency are Tega Brain, Dominique Gonzalez Foerster, Laurent Grasso, artist duo HeHe (Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen), Terike Haapoja, and Wang Yuyang.

SETI AIR Announces Cosmic Consciousness Residency Recipients

In May 2024, the Cosmic Consciousness residency invited writers to submit proposals that explored the questions, "What is the nature of consciousness?" and "What is the nature and evolution of intelligence?" Writers from around the world submitted their ideas. The SETI Institute announced its shortlist on September 3, 2024, and the residency winners on September 23, 2024.

Experimental poet and scholar Gregory Betts, the Lead Advisor of the Cosmic Consciousness residency, noted, "As crushingly hard as it was to choose the winners from all the outstanding submissions, these two choices will blow readers away with the work they produce. They are operating at an extremely high level of quality."

The Cosmic Consciousness recipients are the team Bart Kuipers, Julie Michèle Morin, and daniela brill estrada (Mid-Career Artist category), and Jeremy Colangelo (Emerging Artist Category).

The Non Random Arts Collective

Exploring Habitability, Space Exploration, and Gene Editing

The Non Random Arts Collective explores fascinating scenarios connecting climate change, habitability, and gene editing. SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget chats with the collective about their GAIA workshop series, which they lead at the SETI Institute this summer. The collective invited scientists and artists to engage with the intricacies of climate adaptation, space exploration, and genetic research.

Charles Lindsay

Zen Machine: AI and the Flash Drive of the Spirit

Panel discussion with Dorka Kheen and Troy Ito
Part of the exhibition Please Forget (Everything)
October 22, 2024, 8:30 pm PDT
Heron Arts, San Francisco

Charles Lindsay

Please Don’t Forget Anything

Live performance by XXU & UXX
Part of the exhibition Please Forget (Everything)
October 26, 2024, 7 pm PDT
Heron Arts, San Francisco

Daniela de Paulis

Daniela’s project A Sign in Space is the Winner of the Gizmodo Science Fair 2024

Announcement: Gizmodo Science Fair: A Cosmic Experiment to Decode an ‘Alien’ Signal

Daniela de Paulis

Daniela joined the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program

A collaboration between Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) and Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and the observatories they manage in Chile.

Brittany Nelson

What to See in NYC Galleries this September

Review of Brittany Nelson’s Allen Telescope Array works in the New York Times
September 4, 2024