Think: Digital Futures

Techno-sexuality. Digi-sexuality. I-dollatry and Robophilia are new sexualities made possible by technology. So who is behind these identities? And what’s the attraction?

Featuring Dr Belinda Middleweek, Senior Lecturer in Journalism in the School of Communications at University of Technology Sydney

Music from Epidemic Sound

Produced and presented by Lawrence Bull

Ya like robo-jazz?

Featured:

•   Dr. Richard Savery: Macquarie University Research Fellow (MQRF), Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature

Produced and Presented by: Cameron M. Furlong

Music:

As AI becomes more advanced and nuanced, it is inevitable that we see it entering the arts. After my conversation with Dr. Sara Oscar, I was curious to descend further down the rabbit hole of artificial creativity. Being a musician, there was no better way to challenge my beliefs of what is or isn't "music" than by exploring robot musicians. But it isn't just techno sounds and glitch, Dr. Richard Savery's robot musician Shimon can rap, sing, and play the marimba in a band.

For decades, stem cells have been the technology that’s just around the corner. The medicine that would fix just about part of the body. But stem cell injections haven’t delivered on their advertised potential. Now, thanks to ingenuity and machine learning, they'll have a shot.

Featuring Dr Jiao Jiao Li, School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney

Produced and presented by Lawrence Bull

What is 'consciousness'?

Featured:

• Dr Mahendra Samarawickrama; Director of the Centre for Consciousness Studies, Director of the Centre for Sustainable AI

Produced and Presented by: Cameron M. Furlong

Music by Trev Lewis from Hagfilms, Drakensson, and TheoTer. Sourced from Freesound.org

The nature of consciousness is an emerging philosophical question that has been pondered for centuries. Now, with the advent of advanced Artificial Intelligence, the ethics and implications of conscious AI is at the forefront of people's minds. However, delving into just what consciousness actually is on the grand scheme of the universe could provide insight into the unanswered questions of the universe.

Where do AI generated imagery fall in the world of art?

In September 2022, Jason M. Allen controversially won first prize in the Colorado State Fair's "digital arts/digitally-manipulated photography" competition. This event sparked a growing debate in the art world and on social media over the legitimacy of AI generated artwork. Many artists are calling foul on AI art, and are vehemently opposed to its inclusion in the arts on both creative and legal grounds. However, controversy always follows new technology, one only has to take a look at the last century to see similar fierce opposition to photography's standing as "legitimate" art.

To unpack the issue surrounding AI art, I spoke to someone with their foot in both worlds. Dr. Sara Oscar is a photographer and Senior Lecturer at UTS's School of Design. Her research specialises in the cultural impacts of AI and deep neural networks. Hopefully, she can shine some light on the question 'Is AI Art, 'art'?

Featured:

• Dr. Sara Oscar: Senior Lecturer, UTS School of Design

Music:

Presented and Produced by Cameron M. Furlong

All of us have our own relationship with music, for some it provides some background colour to the day, for others it’s an integral part of life. But technology has changed our relationship with music, both in how we consume it and how we collect it. While it’s easier than ever to access an enormous amount of music from every era, genre and country on Earth, has it become more difficult to forge meaningful relationships with artists and their songs? How do we keep track of a lifetime’s worth of music appreciation and listening, and is it even important that we do?

Featured: 

- Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

- Darren Cross, Musician

Music: 

Darren Cross - hONEYCOMB (10.8.5)

Darren Cross - Honeeey Pot

Darren Cross - Pump Up the Dole-Drums (INFINITE3)

Darren Cross - S u m_m e r T a p e d

(courtesy of the artist)

Advances in technology and art require a solid foundation of history in order to improve, progress and innovate. What happens when that history is tied up with copyright restrictions or only exists as an expensive artifact? With video games the highest earning entertainment products, can publishers be forgiven for protecting their investments by deciding what relics from the past we now get to discover, or should these long lost treasures be more accessible?

Featured: Dr Jaime Garcia Deputy Director (T&L Engagement), Faculty of Engineering and IT, Co-director UTS Games Studio

Music: 

Lexica - Albatross (courtesy of Endemic Sound)

DEX - Light In Reverse (courtesy of Endemic Sound)

Ben Salter - Semi- Pro Gamer (courtesy of the artist)

Do you trust a robot with your beer?

Featured:

Produced and Presented by: Cameron M. Furlong

Music by Trev Lewis from Hagfilms; sourced from Freesound.org. Outro music Modern Compersion One Man Book.

AI will soon have a say in how you beer tastes. Researchers at UTS are developing new brewing technologies that will be able to monitor the brewing of beer at every step of the process. This could lead to more economical and cheaper brews, and the micro-analysis of the process means that brews could be cloned to twin breweries around the world. Can an AI analyst hold a candle to the experience and intuition of a human brewer, or will their own individual strengths elevate the process?