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Prosthetic Knowledge is an interactive browser based work that explores themes of violence towards women while examining contemporary practices of myth-making and the internet as a medium.This work draws from a Greek myth, Pythia and the Oracle of Delphi, who is widely acknowledged as one of the first female Oracles. The Oracle, usually female, held a position of immense power within ancient times. Prophetic themes are a common feature of mythological narratives and the Oracle acts as a conduit or divinatory guide, through which abstract yet poetic interpretations of a divine will, signifies the transition from the common world into that of the technological supernatural.

Viewed from a feminist perspective the work reimagines the internet as a sacred site positioning and utilizes mythology within the current moment of advancing algorithmic systems. It questions the role of technology and how it may be used to highlight gender violence  through the guise of a modern-day oracle. The 3d female models were made by inputting images of women who were victims of violence to an AI programme and it made an amalgamation of all these women's faces to use as the basis for making the oracle models. As problems with artificial intelligence become more invasive, how do we begin the challenge and utilize these systems in alternative ways?  This project trains an AI model on histories of violence toward women and it responds by creating at times poignant narratives, highlighting the need to always keep humans at the center of technological advances.

Prosthetic Knowledge is a 2022 Digital Commission , commissioned by The Glucksman, Cork, produced by artist Elaine Hoey.

Background Music - Cunnartach by Invercauld

With kind permission from Invercauld and Cyclic Record Label. https://www.cycliclaw.com

CREDITS

AI Voice- This voice was created by combining and training an AI model with four women's voices.

Asmaa Sayed Ali

Katerina Baros

Elaine Hoey

Emiko Singh

Facial Performance Capture

Actor- Antoinette Grappa

Narrative

The narrative was created by an AI model trained on a history of violence towards women.

Oracle - Bot

This bot was adapted and modeled on the programme Eliza, this was the first bot ever written in the mid-1960s at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum.

This work is made using a variety of mediums such as WebGL  Gifs, performance capture, 3d modeling, video,  interactive web drawing, animation and coding and narrative- both written and audio is made utilizing artificial intelligence.

Interactive web coding/programming and artwork Elaine Hoey

With kind thanks to  Unmeash Shukla,  Jeremie Boulay, Dimitra Vasilopoulou and Vincent Garreau for sharing their open source code.

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