When the Buggles wrote their now infamously catchy Video Killed the Radio Star in 1979, they were apparently inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1960 short story The Sound-Sweep. In both works, the protagonists are experiencing an era-defining transformation: the movement of art forms and rapid technological change. They sing, We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far… The same could be said for our current moment and the rise of generative and other AI technologies. Yet very little research is asking artists about their relationship to the intersection of art, these new automated technologies and their impacts on the natural world.

Welcome to an evening of film screenings and artist in-conversations with leading contemporary artists Professor Angie Abdilla (ANU), Dr Laresa Kosloff (RMIT) and Dr Rebecca Najdowski (RMIT), moderated by Dr Bronwyn Bailey-Charteris (UNSW/ADM+S). Reworking the iconic synth-pop song, this evening shares insights into how contemporary artists are responding to the emergence of artificial intelligence, what creative practice reveals about the environmental implications of AI technologies, and how they variously use, avoid, challenge and critique the environmental dimensions of AI.

The event at Capitol Theatre is a rare chance to see these new and critical video works, and to hear from the artists, Angie Abdilla, Laresa Kosloff and Rebecca Najdowski, directly. Drawing from recent ADM+S research on the artistic strategies and ecological dimensions of these technologies as part of the special project, the artists will share the strategies, artistic methodologies and creative interventions they engage to consider the ecological and creative tactics of critical engagement with AI in media art today.

This event is part of a study conducted by Bronwyn Bailey-Charteris and Deborah Lupton as part of the ADM+S signature project ADM, Ecosystems and Multispecies Relationships.