Canòdrom kicks off with Decidim Fest for a trimester full of activities, where the focus is on reflection around Artificial Intelligence from a democratic and collective creation perspective. The agenda from September to December also offers a performative conference by Taller Estampa, a Digital Detox moment, as well as gatherings of music, code, and party with live coding.
Artificial Intelligence cannot exist without the vast amounts of common and open knowledge that has been generated collectively over the years. So why do we refer to it as ‘artificial’? This autumn, Canòdrom is the stage for discussing data processing technologies, leaving behind technological omnipotence and fear to truly understand how they work and to put them at the service of the people.
Decidim Fest 23 | October 18-20
The first appointment is a celebration: Decidim Fest, one of the key events for reflecting on the dialogue between technology and democracy. This year, it proposes a vital subject for our present: Artificial Intelligence from a collective and democratic creation perspective.
In a year when Artificial Intelligence has emerged as the absolute digital issue, Decidim Fest brings together prominent activists, researchers, and experts from October 18-20. They contribute to imagine democratic models of AI development that serve the entire society. Some of the confirmed names include Rayén Jara, co-founder of Radical Data, a collective that uses data and builds tools for resistance and alternative futures; Ashwin Singh, a queer Bahujan activist and researcher working on algorithmic justice and AI ethics; Carla de Paiva Bezerra, director of Digital Participation and Network Communication of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil; and Róbert Bjarnason, co-founder of the non-profit organization Citizens Foundation, focused on citizen participation and digital democracy.
- More information here.
Critical Pedagogy for Artificial Intelligence | November 2, 5:00 pm
The AI, Rights, and Democracy series at Canòdrom, dedicated to reflecting on the potentials and limitations of Artificial Intelligence, organizes its fifth session. The session is facilitated by Taller Estampa, a collective of creators, programmers, and researchers working with a critical and archaeological approach to audiovisual technologies.
In this performative conference, we delve into the functioning of AI models. How is the generation of texts and images automated? What do they rely on to identify what’s in an image? What are the environmental and political implications of the current AI model?
- More information and registrations here.
EinESS and Artificial Intelligence. Digital Culture Created from the ESS | November 8, 7:00 pm
Do you believe that cultural creation can be more democratic, sustainable, and ethical? In this session, we explore paths regarding digital culture and Artificial Intelligence through a dialogue featuring four professionals from the world of arts and digital culture. The objective is to make visible, problematize, and explore how artistic creation and culture can relate to artificial intelligences.
The dialogue of Ona Bros, Mónica Rikić, Esther Dow, and Antònia Folguera is accompanied by a sound narrative by an experimental artist.
- More information here.
Digital Detox. Degooglelize Your Mind | Novembre 15, 6:00 pm
It’s possible to count on the fingers of one’s hands and feet how many years we’ve been carrying a smartphone in our pockets. These devices are part of our daily lives, continually providing stimuli and generating data about us, which feed into large technological empires and their algorithms.
Disconnecting and resting the mind to connect with ourselves and the people around us. This is the goal proposed by Sergi Onorato in the workshop Digital detox. Degooglelize Your Mind, in which we collectively address the right to disconnect in order to prioritize life.
- More information and registrations here.
FemCoders Club. Music and Live Coding. | November 14, 6:00 pm
Algorithms, Music, and Image: that’s what awaits us at FemCoders Club, a space for developers and programmers who love code. In this gathering, they’ve prepared a live coding creation party, and everyone is more than welcome.
Come and create music in real-time, using the Ruby programming language and shaping it through audiovisuals and music. Discover how algorithms and software can become powerful tools for musical expression!
- More information here.
Show Me Your Algorithm! | November 29, 6:30 pm
While Artificial Intelligence is not transparent by nature and legislation is needed to open the code, the practice of live coding, or the collective improvisational writing of source code, generating music and visuals, is entirely open. In this session, we learn from live coding to demand transparency from AI and for it to show us the algorithm.
In live coding, the skeleton is completely visible as a collective practice, representing the principles of transparency, vitality, and clarity, which seem entirely divergent from machine learning. Come and experiment with TopLap to see how live coding and machine learning converge, and what Artificial Intelligence can learn from collective practices of live code writing, which focus on play and experimentation.
- More information and registrations here.
