We need to find a new way of living together. It is hard not to agree with this statement. We must overcome the current phase of cultural conflict and seek a new coexistence where “me” gives way to “us”, where individual well-being cannot be conceived without common well-being.
These statements are irresistible. And yet, like any matter that appears unquestionable, these claims are riddled with problematic elements. Who fits into this “us” that’s so attractive? How do we go from “me” to “us”, from the individual to the community? Does this “us” include the people we don’t like? What percentage of the population does this “us” that we dream of comprise? Can there be “us” without “the others”? What do we do with things that bother us? Do mosquitoes fit into “us”? Do viruses? Plankton? And poisonous plants? What about artificial plants? And what about artificial intelligences? Since the 1950s, when studies on artificial intelligence as we understand it today began, fictions have portrayed artificial intelligences as a threat. As in any mythology, the creator’s fear of being overtaken and annihilated by his creation has fed the dilemma of coexistence between humans and artificial intelligences. Fear of the other, of the unknown. Does it really need to be this way? Who is to imagine the new myths? And our future? What if we invite artificial intelligences to imagine “us”? What if we invite them to imagine a place for this “us”? What if we ask them to help us imagine Una isla?
https://www.srserrano.com/una-isla/
Awards
- 2023: Digital Tools Award from Premis de la Crítica 2023
- 2015: Silver Lion from the Venice Biennale (Italy)
Review
Annette Embrechts wrote about Una Isla for De Volkskrant: “‘Una Isla,’ about a castaway found by AI, is as fascinating as it is curious.” Read the entire review here.
In Theaterkrant, Javier López Piñón wrote about Una Isla: “An island, a chatbot, and an ode to poetry”. Read the full review here.
Interview
Elise de Leede, head of SPRING Academy, interviewed Pau Palacios, artistic director of Agrupación Señor Serrano, about Una Isla. Read the interview here.
