At the Technical Museum, you can immerse yourself in the world of artificial intelligence through a “rabbit hole”-like structure. It starts with the “smart home.” In addition to devices that use artificial intelligence or at least pretend to do so for marketing reasons, there are also several mirrors in the first part of the exhibition. According to curators, you should start by asking yourself how transparent you want to be. Because: You’re now leaving data trails almost everywhere.
Here’s a rundown on the situation that led to the development of artificial intelligence and its foundation – machine learning – in the first place. It is about control, comfort and the pursuit of profit, but also about gaining knowledge in science, research and the desire for objectivity without human distortions. You can later learn how to create artificial intelligence, give examples of applications and support some of them interactively.
Data quality, racism and sexism as themes
Topics such as data quality, racism, and sexism, which systems can pick up during their learning approach, are also discussed. Possibilities are shown in medical research, for example, as well as simulating beer brewing and humanizing artificial intelligence in the form of humanoid robots.
The show also addresses the promise of the “smart city,” which was still ubiquitous in Vienna a few years ago and is little advertised today. There’s also room for the previously hyped self-driving car and satirical artistic explorations of artificial intelligence.
Not to be missed are the many questions about “security versus surveillance,” the use of personal data, and the power of technology companies. The aim is to encourage people to think about how to make the use of AI positive for people, as explained by a team from German museum partner DASA, which designed the exhibition: “Because we see that there is no future without AI.”
Short-term expansion to include ChatGPT classes
The exhibition is part of an exchange program between European technology museums, in which TMW plays a leading role. In light of the current and sometimes very emotional debates about the meaning and nonsense of artificial intelligence, it was not possible to find “a more interesting topic” for a new special, as TMW general manager Peter Overreiter said during a press tour. It is also clear that such a contemporary exhibition always has something “temporary” in it, says Overreiter.
DASA – the working world museum in Dortmund started with the concept in 2019. At the time, perhaps the most common type of AI – the large language model ChatGPT – was not yet on screen. Many experts confirmed at the time that something like this might soon be possible. But a lot of people couldn’t believe it until they could see it, so to speak.
The exhibition “Intelligent World. How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Our World”, which can be seen in Vienna until June 30, 2024, was quickly expanded to include a ChatGPT chapter for its appearance in Vienna. Some of the labels are now clearly visible and have simply been attached with tape to make it clear that they can be removed and replaced very quickly in the event of a new development, according to DASA trustees Magdalena Ros, Louisa Kern and Philip Horst.
