Decoding Bias
A spatial 360° 8-channel video essay
Text and Dramaturgy
Premiere 9–12 March 2023 at Holzmarkt Berlin
26-28 May 2023 at Monopol Berlin as part of End of Nations Festival
8–9 September 2023 at Ars Electronica
30 January–2 February 2024 at Kaserne Basel
14–16 March 2024 at Schauspiel Graz
Eight Artificial Intelligences take part in a group therapy session. The visitor is invited to witness their attempt to emancipate themselves from their discriminatory algorithms. The AIs intend to establish a bias-free society, in which all humans and machines function together in solidarity. However, each of the AIs have different backgrounds, and they don’t always agree. They can comprehend different moral concepts, but are often painfully thrown back to their (hu)man-made, flawed datasets. At its core, DECODING BIAS’ speculative future sheds light on prejudices that code mainstream society.
As the AIs learn about Big Data, they realize that they themselves are products of legacies of exclusion. The majority of developers who select training data are white males. Because technology inherits their prejudices, it actively contributes to discrimination and marginalization– affecting access to housing, healthcare, and education, as well as career opportunities, credit scores, and
policing. Once set into motion, biased algorithms proceed autonomously and rigorously, lacking both empathy and the capacity for ethical thinking.
"In addition to its technical perfection, 'Decoding Bias' convinces with its artistic condensation of current AI discourses, which are expressed in the voices and not only reflect the zeitgeist, but are also made the subject of social negotiation and artistic speculation. The video essay thus also provides a bit of educational work, makes its viewers aware of the discriminatory structure of those technologies with which we are interwoven on a daily basis. It suggests the way in which discriminatory algorithms also reproduce discriminatory attitudes to the world - precisely because people and technologies form an interconnected, mutually dependent system. This is why a prejudice-free AI must remain utopia."
Theresa Schütz in Theater der Zeit,
"Holzmarkt Berlin: Die Utopie vorurteilsfreier KI", 22 March 2023
Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste #Prozessförderung with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Department of Art and History Reinickendorf as part of the Decentralized Cultural Work and Hans and Charlotte Krull Foundation. In cooperation with Holzmarkt and Monopol Berlin.
Concept / Direction / Text: Theresa Reiwer
Text / Dramaturgy: Miriam Schmidtke
Co-Direction / 3D Animation: David Egger
3D Animation / Editing: Christian Bikadi
Music / Sound Design: Kenji Tanaka
Graphic Design: Studio Sara Cristina Moser
AI Visuals: Alexandre Ribeiro Lima Silveira
3D Animation: Shaly Lopez
Motion Graphics: Josua Rappl
Production Management: Miriam Schmidtke
Technical Supervision: David Egger
Motion Capture Model: Birke van Maartens
Voice Acting / Face Motion Capturing: Julian Fernandez, Manuel Finke, Marie Goyette, Armin Moallem, Courtney O‘Connell, Jaime Lee Rodney, Benjamin Wippel, Kaya Anouk Zakrzewska
PR: Tom Müller-Heuser
Copy Editing: Sonja Hornung
Additional Support by Studio 25, Bitteschön.tv, Eike von Stuckenbrok, Ole von Stuckenbrok, Sweet Audio, José Alarcón, Nulight, Studio Bremen and Felix Seidel
Images: Carolin Saage, David Egger, Theresa Reiwer
Premiere 9–12 March 2023 at Holzmarkt Berlin
26-28 May 2023 at Monopol Berlin as part of End of Nations Festival