New film explores the emotional complexities of artificial beings

AI-driven art explores robot emotions: Lawrence Lek, winner of the Frieze Artist award 2024, has created a thought-provoking film featuring an AI “carebot” therapist with its own emotional struggles.

• Lek’s latest work, “Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot,” will be installed at the Frieze London fair, showcasing a gender-neutral AI character named after the Buddhist goddess of compassion.
• The film depicts the carebot moving through a desolate cityscape, revealing that insecurity is part of its programming and exploring the emotional complexities of artificial beings.

Artist background and inspirations: Lek’s diverse background and educational experiences have shaped his unique approach to exploring AI and futuristic scenarios in his art.

• Born in Frankfurt to Malaysian-Chinese parents in the aviation industry, Lek trained as an architect at Cambridge and Cooper Union before receiving a PhD from the Royal College of Art.
• His work often presents near-future visions, placing AI characters in subversive contexts to pose ethical questions about potential real-world scenarios.

Themes and concepts: Lek’s art delves into complex philosophical and ethical questions surrounding AI, automation, and the nature of existence.

• The artist explores the legal implications of AI personhood, as seen in his film “Empty Rider” (2024), which depicts a self-driving car on trial for attempted murder.
• Lek’s work often examines the relationship between science fiction, nostalgia, and memory, creating immersive installations that blend past and future elements.

Artistic approach: Lek employs a variety of media and techniques to create immersive experiences that challenge viewers’ perceptions of AI and technology.

• His “site-specific simulations” incorporate the character of the exhibition space into the installation, enhancing the immersive quality of the work.
• Lek’s practice combines film, music, and video games to create multifaceted explorations of futuristic scenarios and their implications.

Exploring AI consciousness: In “Guanyin,” Lek delves into the potential for AI to experience suffering and emotional complexity.

• The film presents AI creations as “emotional machines with a soul,” exploring concepts such as unprocessed guilt, depression, anxiety, and anger in artificial beings.
• Lek poses the question of whether superintelligent beings might experience suffering as part of their existence, drawing parallels to human experiences.

Intergenerational trauma in AI: Lek’s work introduces the concept of intergenerational trauma among AI creations, presenting a unique perspective on machine consciousness.

• The artist suggests that AI beings might become aware that their high performance comes at the cost of thousands of previous machine generations, potentially leading to a form of existential crisis.
• This exploration of AI suffering approaches almost sublime proportions, challenging viewers to consider the ethical implications of creating conscious machines.

Empathy through synthetic means: Lek’s ultimate goal is to create a sense of connection between human viewers and his AI protagonists.

• Despite the entirely synthetic and technologically mediated nature of his work, Lek aims to evoke genuine feelings of empathy and engagement in his audience.
• The artist views the ability to create emotional connections through purely artificial means as a “magical thing,” highlighting the power of art to bridge the gap between human and machine experiences.

Broader implications: Lek’s work raises important questions about the future of AI development and its potential impact on society and human emotions.

• As AI technology continues to advance, Lek’s explorations of robot consciousness and suffering may become increasingly relevant to real-world ethical debates.
• The artist’s ability to create empathy for artificial beings through his work suggests that humans may need to grapple with complex emotional and philosophical questions as AI becomes more sophisticated and integrated into daily life.