CHOM5KY vs. CHOMSKY is a mixed reality installation that invites visitors to have a thought-provoking encounter with Artificial Intelligence, guided by a virtual host inspired and built on the digital traces of renowned linguist Noam Chomsky. Putting the user front and center, CHOMSKY_AI serves as a mirror, reflecting back what people discover about themselves during the experience.
This interactive, multi-user, playful, and collaborative experience allows users to examine the promises and pitfalls of AI in a fun and engaging way while posing the questions of what we’re hoping to achieve, to recreate, and at what cost.
Artificial intelligence is omnipresent: from image editing programs in smartphones to self-parking cars and a virtual assistant in the kitchen. The attempt to transfer human learning and thinking to computers and give them intelligence is a prominent phenomenon of our time. But what exactly is AI?
When machine intelligence is praised as an inevitable and necessary technology of the present and future, one should ask: What are we hoping for? And what price are we willing to pay?
Visitors use VR headsets to enter the AI world, where they are greeted by CHOM5KY—an artificial entity inspired by and built from the vast array of digital traces of renowned professor Noam Chomsky. CHOM5KY is a friend and serves as a guide, inviting us to peek under the hood of machine-learning systems, and offering thought-provoking takes on how artificial intelligence intersects with human life.
WHY NOAM CHOMSKY?
Professor Chomsky is a philosopher, social critic, historian and political activist, but is perhaps best known for his work in linguistics and cognitive science, the study of the mind. As one of the most recorded and digitized living intellectuals, he has left behind an extensive wake of data traces, enough to create an AI system based on his legacy. Chomsky is also skeptical about the pompous promises made of AI. Which makes him the perfect guide to encourage visitors to question everything they see—and help demystify AI.
Professor Chomsky is a philosopher, social critic, historian and political activist, but is perhaps best known for his work in linguistics and cognitive science, the study of the mind. As one of the most recorded and digitized living intellectuals, he has left behind an extensive wake of data traces, enough to create an AI system based on his legacy. Chomsky is also skeptical about the pompous promises made of AI. Which makes him the perfect guide to encourage visitors to question everything they see—and help demystify AI.
A WORLD MADE OF DATA
How would an AI present and explain itself to a human being? In this experience, Chomsky_AI chooses to present the user with a pleasant and familiar virtual world very reminiscent of the landscape of Arizona, where the real Noam Chomsky currently resides. However, this world is full of small glitches letting an underlying layer full of data shine through.
How would an AI present and explain itself to a human being? In this experience, Chomsky_AI chooses to present the user with a pleasant and familiar virtual world very reminiscent of the landscape of Arizona, where the real Noam Chomsky currently resides. However, this world is full of small glitches letting an underlying layer full of data shine through.
In the course of the experience, Chomsky_AI takes the user to this underlying world of data to explain its inner workings.
To achieve this technically the whole virtual environment and every single object in the scene have been sliced up und built in a way that they can morph dynamically between these different worlds. The experience culminates in the fusion between these two worlds, which ends in a glitch and collapse of the whole virtual environment.
To achieve this technically the whole virtual environment and every single object in the scene have been sliced up und built in a way that they can morph dynamically between these different worlds. The experience culminates in the fusion between these two worlds, which ends in a glitch and collapse of the whole virtual environment.
©Tommi Aittala
©Tommi Aittala
©Tommi Aittala
©Tommi Aittala
©Tommi Aittala
©Tommi Aittala
©Maryse Boyce
©Maryse Boyce
The Monolith is the central interaction point of the experience, which is present in the real exhibition space, but also in the virtual world, making it a touchable object in VR. During the experience, four users are able to collaboratively explore the world and ask Chomsky_AI everything they want to know.
Chom5ky vs. Chomsky celebrated its European premiere at Kindl Berlin in November 2022 and was subsequently exhibited at NFB in Montreal in September 2023.
Chom5ky vs. Chomsky celebrated its European premiere at Kindl Berlin in November 2022 and was subsequently exhibited at NFB in Montreal in September 2023.
Credits:
CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY created by Sandra Rodriguez. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada and SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER, with support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Design, Code and Scenography Leads:
Sebastian Huber
Johannes Lemke
Max Seeger
Johannes Timpernagel
Felix Worseck
Michael Burk
Back-End Architect
Cindy Sherman Bishop
AI Lead
Moov AI
AI Data Scientists
Simon Dagenais
Étienne Boisvenue
David Torres
Composition and Immersive Audio
kling klang klong
Producer
Uschi Feldges
Carl-Johannes Schulze
Sebastian Huber
Johannes Lemke
Max Seeger
Johannes Timpernagel
Felix Worseck
Michael Burk
Back-End Architect
Cindy Sherman Bishop
AI Lead
Moov AI
AI Data Scientists
Simon Dagenais
Étienne Boisvenue
David Torres
Composition and Immersive Audio
kling klang klong
Producer
Uschi Feldges
Carl-Johannes Schulze
My Role: Design, Code, and Scenography
Software: Unreal Engine 4, SideFX Houdini