2003 Rockefeller New Media Foundation Proposal

Abstract

This project will take as its primary point of departure my most recent works in which artificially "intelligent", computerdriven lifelike silicone heads are engaged in improvisational conversations. The conversations which they carry on are neither completely scripted, nor are they random; rather, the software I have written gives each a "personality", a vocabulary, associative habits, obsessions, and other peculiarities, which make their conversations quirky, surprising, and often startling. They also intend to raise questions about computer intelligence and intelligence (and consciousness) itself.