I created A.I. Anne with technologist Richard Savery as a way to advocate for inclusion in the development of AI technologies - to advocate for all the missing voices, including the neurodiverse.
Language is loaded and biased. A.I. Anne is a storyteller, but only communicates through vocalizations and emotion. The entity was developed with prosody, the rhythms used in poetry. A.I. Anne can detect emotion and respond with emotion in real time.
As artist Stephanie Dinkins says, "The stories we tell are algorithms."
AI is in the process of becoming - so let's tell unexpected and inclusive stories.
My aunt Anne was
institutionalized when
she was five years old. Eventually, she was
diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I didn’t meet her until some 50 years later. Anne was non-speaking due to apraxia, but we immediately connected over her wicked sense of humor and generosity. I became Anne’s guardian for the next ten years, until her death in 2004.
I spent 15 years working
as a prosthetic technician as a way to support my
artistic practice.
Since leaving the field to become a self-sustaining artist, I have continued following adaptive technological developments.
Our Story
The Start
It all began with family, friends, an idea and an invitation. Asher Remy-Toledo of Hyphen Hub generously proposed that he present a performance I was working on based on creative collaborations between humans and technology.
I had been the guardian of my aunt, who was autistic. My aunt Anne passed away many years ago, but her passion for life and her struggles have stayed with me.
In my past, I had spent years working as a prosthetic and orthotic technician. These two experiences prompted thoughts of neural diverse inclusion and new adaptive technologies.
Friends
I reached out to some friends to see if they were interested in collaborating. We quickly developed a team of researchers and practitioners, experimentalists and theorists.
Our team includes a composer and music technologist, composer and improvisational drummer, two violinists, an autistic experience designer, and a dancer/singer songwriter.
So far, we have presented three performances, two live and one live-streamed due to the pandemic.
Behind the Scenes
Expand
We are continuing to develop the project and are excited to present new performances, from working iterations to full evening length performances.
A.I. Anne continues to develop new methods of communication and interaction. Our musicians are exploring new territory. We are developing interactive technologies that invite our audiences to participate, in new and exciting ways.
We are on an adventure, exploring new territory.
