CHOM5KY vs. CHOMSKY
Sandra Rodriguez · 2023
As developments in artificial intelligence (AI) quickly advance, in parallel to those of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications, the possibility of combining the “metaverse” with AI opens a long awaited portal to a future we have often imagined – in fiction, theatre, literature, and film: what if we could learn, exchange, and interact with virtual entities, supported by natural language processing (NLP) systems flexible enough to make us feel like we are having a meaningful exchange and conversation? How close are we to this possible future? This chapter suggests a blind spot in the conversation may be the meanings we attribute to our exchanges and interactions with virtual beings. What meaning and understandings do we give to an AI entity&s;s responses, whether they are scripted or generated? Does the public understand the system(s) upon which such conversational entities are based? To explore this notion further, this chapter draws from the research-creation project CHOM5KY vs. CHOMSKY: A Playful Conversation on AI , conducted over 2016–2022. The artist here combines VR and AI to create a virtual guide – CHOM5KY – built from thousands of digital traces of renowned professor, activist, and linguist Noam Chomsky. The experience uses digital traces and Chomsky&s;s theories on grammar to invite visitors to question how NLP works, pointing to strengths of the human mind, and questioning AI&s;s promises, pitfalls, and metaphors.