Seeking Art that Explores AI, Media, and Truth

Mozilla’s latest round of Creative Media Awards supports art and advocacy interrogating how artificial intelligence impacts the information we consume

Misinformation is rife online.

Some people classify it as a media problem, or a literacy problem, or a Mark Zuckerberg problem. But in part, it’s an AI problem.

Misinformation flourishes online partly because AI-powered recommendation engines spread it — platforms suggest content that will keep us clicking, even if it’s radical or flat out wrong. And in the near future, it won’t just be false news stories — it will be false videos.

This dilemma is the engine behind Mozilla’s latest Creative Media Awards: Today, we’re announcing $200,000 for art and advocacy that illuminates how AI like machine learning impacts our understanding of the truth.

Read the application guide | Apply | Sign up for the informational webinar

Mozilla’s 2019 Creative Media Awards will support interactive experiences, videos, games, and other media that explore the ways AI impacts the information we consume, for better or worse. Ideal projects will not only inform audiences about the threats and opportunities of AI on the information they consume, but also equip them with tangible ways to advocate for more responsible AI in their everyday lives. We seek to support work that is native to the internet, discoverable to broad audiences online, and takes advantage of the Internet as a distinct medium.

Mozilla has a history of using playful and provocative media to spark conversations about internet health. Past Mozilla Creative Media Awardees include:

• Public By Default — Mozilla Fellow Hang Do Thi Duc exposed how Venmo transactions are shared publicly by default
• Chupadados — Mozilla Fellow Joana Varon’s series on the surveillance of internet users’ homes, bodies and cities
• Paperstorm — Mozilla collaborated with Moniker to create this internet advocacy game
• Opsec and Beauty — Artist Addie Wagenknecht created a videoblog series combining beauty tips with information security

The Creative Media awards are part of a comprehensive set of activities supported by the NetGain Partnership, a collaboration between Mozilla, Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation. The goal of this philanthropic collaboration is to advance the public interest in the digital age.

Mozilla Awards empower the people and projects on the front lines of internet health work; learn more.

The details

Funding

$200,000 in funding is available. To encourage a variety of approaches, awards will range from $10,000 up to $30,000. Final award amounts are at the discretion of award reviewers and Mozilla staff.

Deadlines

• May 1, 2019: Applications Open
• May 23, 2019: Applicant Webinar (Recommended but Not Required, will be recorded)
• June 3, 2019: Letter of Intent (LOI) Submissions Due at 12pm EDT (Required)
• July 3, 2019: Final Application Deadline (at 12pm EDT)
• By August 2, 2019: Awardee Notification of Decisions
• By October 1, 2019: Awards Publicly Announced
• May 13, 2020: Final Report Deadline

Eligibility

• Awards support in-progress works at either the conceptual or prototype stage
• Works must be screen-based media of an artistic or journalistic nature
• Works must be freely available on the web
• Works should be suitable for a non-expert audience and demonstrate the potential to be broadly shared
• Creators must demonstrate an understanding of who their audience is and how they want their project to impact this audience
• Applicants must demonstrate an ability to be able to execute their plan via past experience or a prototype

Learn more and apply: https://mozilla.fluxx.io/