What language do we have to describe the immense social, emotional, political, and ecological consequences of technological innovation?
Presented: Media Lab Spring Meeting (April 3/4), SERC Ethics Research Symposium (April 18)
Solo project
Description: Participatory artistic exploration using playful absurdity to prompt nuanced conversations around the immense social, emotional, political, and ecological consequences of technological innovation.
Description
In fostering new technology-rich futures, we invite a myriad of unpredictable consequences which extend far beyond carefully calculated, and highly practical, business use cases. What language do we have to describe the immense social, emotional, political, and ecological consequences of technological innovation?
Impractical Questions engages with this challenge by prompting conversation through an unconventional medium: Mad-libs. Part silly game, part social experiment, the participatory activity asks you to situate emerging technology alongside things of real personal and emotional value – like your favourite toy as a child, or go-to comfort activity.
Through playful absurdity, I present an invitation to think outside of the well-worn narrative of technology development, which tends to conveniently align with business interests instead of felt human and non-human experiences. By conceptualizing surprising situations and stories rich with emotional meaning, I hope to prompt nuanced conversations around technology which grapple with the incredible tension of conflicting human values.
