Rhizomatic_Bias - teleagriculture

Rhizomatic_Bias (V2_ Stadtwerkstatt and Ars Electronica 2022)

What happens if biotopes start chatting to each other using social network communication models? TeleAgriCulture_Rhizomatic Bias explores how bias grows in machine learning and intelligent systems.

Three aquaponic biospheres consisting of local fish and crops found around Rotterdam and Linz are set up at V2 (Rotterdam, NL), Stadtwerkstatt and POSTCITY (Linz, AT). A mobile communication kit plugs directly into the systems, networking sensory data, a chatbot and lights to communicate with each other using traditional soil proverbs that are linked to class, wealth, luck, labor, productivity and land.

In this bio-digital feedback loop the biospheres form social relationships, based on how similar and statistically normal they are. Those with the most in common will attack the weaker ones, in effect cyberbullying them. These artistic provocations point at the much larger problems we face when our emotional biases and social constructions affect the way artificially intelligent systems evolve and impact our lives.

This project is supported by V2_ Lab for Unstable Media, Cultivamos Cultura and TeleAgriCulture.