Introducing Gerui Wang
What’s your background?
I am an art historian researching the intersections between arts, technology, policy, and the environment. Currently I am a Lecturer at Stanford University, and I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. I spent a decade studying art practices and theories of landscape, politics, and ecology. How humans negotiate their relationships with other living organisms, machines, as well as the biosphere has been a central concern in my studies. Art possesses power in channeling all these debates that enable social change. Yet, it is often marginalized from macro narratives of historical shifts. In effect, the imbalance of access to resources was represented and reinforced through images. The ideals of equity are also marshaled and mobilized in the arts. How would artificial intelligence challenge our perceptions of equity, humanity, and creativity? How could art respond to these challenges? I look forward to engaging with these questions.
What excites you about Arts, Data Science and AI?
AI is an effective mirror of human society, no matter how “artificial” it has been defined. The beautiful, the bizarre, the banal; the wonderous, the worrying, the whimsical, so familiar to humans, are still present in AI. When AI produces texts and images, it is altering our worldviews. Artists, art historians, and media philosophers are important contributors to this dialogue because we study visuality, perception, and how worldviews are formed. The pure quantification and optimization of human experience and social relationships are also going to pose risks to our society and environment. The emphasis on efficiency and profits in the age of dramatic automation will also diminish parts of human sensibilities. I am excited to explore how data could become art, and how art can challenge and contribute to AI.
I particularly welcome members to reach out to me in the group’s Slack space about…
I particularly welcome members to reach out to me in the group’s Slack space about collaborative opportunities for research and publication projects, as well as exhibition and symposiums.
What’s a recent artwork (any discipline) that made an impression on you?
Many fascinating artworks out there. Recently, I have been pondering on Agnieszka Kurant’s works Chemical Garden (2021), The End of Signature (2021), and A.A.I.(2015). These works provoke viewers to think about the concept of “invisible labor”, dwindling human uniqueness, and ecological crisis caused by extraction of minerals for computing.
Where can we find out more about you and your work?
You can connect with me at
