Open Call: The Democratization of Artificial Intelligence via Blockchain

Residency Dates: September 30 2019 — January 31, 2020

According to Ben Goertzel of SingularityNET, artificial intelligence is on its way to being dominated by a few major players, possibly as soon as within the next five years. This has the potential to generate monopolistic environments with a lack of recourse for individuals and disempowered peoples, and to centralize systems of control.

Though no-one yet knows how this will play out, ThoughtWorks Arts is exploring SingularityNET’s vision — of democratizing access to and ownership of artificial intelligence — as a resource for inquiry. We are looking for innovative artistic approaches to these challenges, including, but not limited to, emerging relationships between AI, blockchain, open source and global control that will result in a unique artwork.

In partnership with Snark.art, a developer of blockchain for art, ThoughtWorks Arts seeks artists to deeply investigate alternative routes to monopolistic AI practices that effectively lock out and disempower others.

Logistics

ThoughtWorks will provide a work space, facilitation in downtown San Francisco, and access to guides and consultants, as well as appropriate resources as the project progresses. It does not provide housing or work visas, and is for the artist only. It does not include family members.

The residency spans sixteen weeks, with time for a break over the holidays, and comes with a stipend of $11,000. We can provide assistance, if necessary, in supplying a letter of intent to any external funding agencies that might facilitate the residency. Individuals who need to apply for visas should be particularly sensitive to recent issues surrounding work visas and consult with their own country’s authorities for assistance in crafting their applications to visit San Francisco.

Applicants must submit a proposal using the application form below by the application deadline of May 23, 2019. Your proposal should tell us who you are, what your project idea is, and how you plan to implement it. It should also include the skills you have, and the skills and equipment you require for the project. Where there are skills required which you do not have or cannot supply, please let us know. We will contact applicants with final selection information by June 14, 2019.

Apply now

For any questions, please reach out to Paige King at this email address: [email protected].

Originally published at thoughtworksarts.io on April 28th, 2019.