This was such a rewarding and delightful project to work on! At FutureEverything, we are grateful to everyone involved in the season, and of course to Science Gallery London and King's for enabling such a timely project and conversations to take place. Collaboration, interdisciplinary work, and critical thinking are important for interrogating and challenging AI systems and hyped AI narratives, and AI: Who's Looking After Me? was a much-needed opportunity for facilitating these exchanges, critical discourse, but also for involving diverse communities in the process.
FutureEverything’s Creative Director Irini Papadimitriou
22 February 2024
Science Gallery London AI season attracts 30,000 visitors
Named as one of the best free exhibitions in London by Evening Standard, Condé Nast Traveller and Visit London, Science Gallery London’s 2023 season AI: Who’s Looking After Me? came to a close last month, having enjoyed a hugely positive response from visitors and critics alike.
The exhibition, at Science Gallery London, King’s flagship public gallery, was presented in partnership with FutureEverything, aimed to look beyond the hype and take a playful and questioning look at this fast-developing technology from a range of perspectives.
The exhibition featured 13 collaborations between artists, King’s College London researchers, technologists, patient groups and young people, including seven new commissions. Among the highlights were Air Giants’ huggable robot Sprout, developed with King’s robotics researchers and students; Blast Theory’s experiment in AI-powered pet care, Cat Royale; Wesley Goatley’s thought-provoking Alexa graveyard, Newly Forgotten Technologies; and Sarah Selby’s Lumen Prize-winning Between the Lines, a creative intervention which highlights the use of algorithms in Home Office decision-making.
Over 30,000 people visited the exhibition and accompanying events programme, which included two capacity Friday Lates; a visionary workshop with the Stemettes; lunchtime presentations from King’s researchers in the AI Forum; new spoken word performances by Poetry Luv’s young artists; and a series of timely panel discussions exploring transparency, regulation, and AI’s implications for healthcare and the workplace.
Over the course of the 7-month season, also saw a range of partnered content with London Data Week; BBC World Service who recorded a special edition of their Global News Podcast at the gallery; BRAID UK who co-hosted two days of sector-facing workshops focusing on AI and the arts; and King’s newly formed Digital Futures Institute to discuss the future of AI development.
Reflecting on the season, FutureEverything’s Creative Director Irini Papadimitriou said:
Siddharth Khajuria, Director of Science Gallery London added,
Thank you so much to the audiences, participants, collaborators and colleagues who shaped AI: Who’s Looking After Me? We wanted to help develop and share something ‘messy’ - in the best sense of that word - and to take this monolithic thing that is "AI" and slow it down, complicate it a little. Watching so many people tug at the thread of their own curiosity and delve into the dozens of questions posed by the season over the last seven months has been a pleasure.
Siddharth Khajuria, Director of Science Gallery London
