Collective Consciousness and Digital God

The AI Art Corner #3

Beth Jochim, creative AI lead Libre AI; Twitter: @_bblurred

“We have killed God, as Nietzsche says. But we are rebuilding Him, with Technology, to match our techno-culture.” — Memo Akten.

Memo Akten is a researcher and artist from Turkey who investigates the essence of humans and nature through emerging technologies and computation. In his work, Akten brings together different fields, such as biological and artificial intelligence, perception, information theory, cosmology, spirituality, creativity and so on, using deep learning as both a medium and a subject matter.

He periodically addresses issues related to the sphere of spirituality and religion, drawing important connections with the society we live in. For example, in Keeper of our collective consciousness (2014) and All watched over by Machines of Loving Grace (2015), Akten investigates our relationship with the digital world by presenting an interesting point of view on the role of technology in our lives.

The first work is a collaboration with the search engine Google that led to the creation of a collection of prayers. Held in the cloud, these words are, more than anything else, intimate confessions. The artist makes us reflect how, over time, the cloud has in fact become a friend, a confessor, and a confidant, taking on a role that in the past belonged to the people around us and creating a collective consciousness.

[Fig.1] Keeper of our Collective Consciousness (2014) at Mind the Deep, Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai. Photos courtesy of Ming contemporary art Museum. Credit: Memo Akten.

The second work is a reflection on the concept of God and the role of religion through the lens of philosophy, neuroscience and cognitive science, with direct references to the theories of David Hume, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Dean Hamer, and Daniel Dennett.

As Akten writes:

“For millennia, religions have evolved, responding to their host culture’s traits and needs. Millions of deities have come and gone. Some have disappeared completely, some are localized to small groups, and others have grown to dominate countries and continents. As societies grow and change, so do their deities and religions along with them. Those beliefs and values which are most culturally fit survive.

And we are now living in times of increasing technological surveillance. In this post-Snowden era, we are more aware of the extent of this invasion of privacy than ever before. But did the Snowden Revelations have the impact we might have hoped for? Did they provoke a public outcry from the masses? A unanimous demand for privacy? Not quite. The people are apathetic — perhaps even sympathetic, finding safety and comfort in knowing that a Higher Force is watching; protecting those who are virtuous and law-abiding. Those who are innocent have nothing to fear. Those who do wrong will be found and punished.”

[Fig.2] All watched over by Machines of Loving Grace (2015). Credit: Memo Akten.

Akten does not speak of God in terms of a supernatural being, but analyzes the divine in its quality of glue within the society without forgetting, however, the negative aspects that may emerge.

In an age that is increasingly materialistic and a victim of its own technological dependence, we are losing the old gods and replacing them with new ones.

“We’re edging closer and closer to an authentic man-made deity — living up in The Cloud, of all places. Watching over us, listening to our thoughts and dreams in ones and zeros.”

[Fig.3] All watched over by Machines of Loving Grace (2015), Deepdream Version. Credit: Memo Akten.

The Deepdream version of All watched over by Machines of Loving Grace has been made for the DeepDream: The art of neural networks exhibition in partnership with Google Research. The artwork, which brings to light some of the problematic aspects related to the use of algorithms — such as automation and mass surveillance — is a machine hallucination based on a satellite view of the GCHQ as seen from The Cloud. The GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom.

Combining critical and conceptual approaches, Akten belongs to the group of artists who critically investigate the relationship between art and technology, contributing to the ongoing dialogue between human and artificial.

For more information, please visit: http://www.memo.tv.

Except where otherwise noted this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.