Abstract
The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate a methodology of design which interrogates aspects of Artificial Intelligence and it’s abilities to develop novel sensibilities. The presented project, The Church of AI (Fig. 1), discusses the design technique itself as well as the underlying aspects of aesthetic, ethic and existence. The project started in the course Architectural Automations. An Advanced Design Studio of PennDesign [1], with the focus on the transforming potential of Artificial Intelligence and automation in architecture. The results of the studio addressed aspects of autonomous behavior in construction (Performative Machine [2]), the changed relationship to creative practice (Golden Playhouse [3]) and Worship & AI (Church of AI [4]). The later was selected as a topic for this paper as it demonstrates in a provocative fashion the multitude of lenses of observation for a problem like Artificial Intelligence and Architecture. Not only as a toolset to optimize very specific elements of architecture such as floorplan, material consumption and structure, but rather to emphasize architectures ability to serve as a cultural marker and place of worship. In that extent it proposes a position that radically challenges the idea of computational methodologies as tools of expedience and efficiency and rather embraces the possibility to use it as a tool of communication between the human mindset and an, as to this date, alien intelligence. Alien in the sense of defamiliarization or estrangement [5]. Following intense conversations in the studio about the nature of AI, and its possible impact on architecture the project The Church of AI started speculating about the various possible aesthetic conversations possible through the use of AI. Of course, AI is a generalist term that includes a wide range of approaches and ideas. In order to make progress within the frame of one semester a more specific approach was needed. The main question was wither an AI could create a novel sensibility based on specific datasets, and how human intervention could steer the results. Exploring possibilities for a Human/AI collaboration.
The Project Church of AI by Marianna Sanche & Leete Jane Wang – University of Pennsylvania 2018
“The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.”
Jean Baudrillard.
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References
PennDesign Arch 704 Advanced Design Studio, Spring 2018 – Architectural Automations. Faculty: Matias del Campo & Sandra Manninger
Performative Machine, Arch 704 Advanced Design Studio, Spring 2018, Wenqi Huang & Mostafa Akbari
Golden Playhouse, Arch 704 Advanced Design Studio, Spring 2018, Mariana Righi, Sarah Elizabeth Nicole Davis
Church of AI, Arch 704 Advanced Design Studio, Spring 2018
See also Graham Harman, Weird Realism - Lovecraft and Philosophy, Zero Books 2012. It is worth mentioning here that Harman was not the first one to discuss the connection between HP Lovecraft and Ideas of Phenomenology – more precisely Anton Husserl’s work. Colin Wilson built this argument in his boot The Strength to Dream in 1962
The example described further below in the paper of two AI’s discussing economy ultimately resulting in them generating a new language is a good example of an AI searching for methods to optimize the way to achieve their goal. The “mistake” made in programming these two AI’s was that there was no incentive given to the AI’s when using plain English
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The project was executed as part of the studio Architectural Automations at PennDesign, University of Pennsylvania in the Spring Semester 2018, Students: Marianna Sanche & Lettee Wang Advisers: Matias del Campo & Sandra Manninger
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Del Campo, M., Manninger, S., Wang, L.J., Sanche, M. (2020). Sensibilities of Artificial Intelligence. In: Gengnagel, C., Baverel, O., Burry, J., Ramsgaard Thomsen, M., Weinzierl, S. (eds) Impact: Design With All Senses. DMSB 2019. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29829-6_41
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