Telling not showing ( so rather not): Vlog, YouTube-style videos, Chats or Online forums
Show not tell (better): split storyline/split screen, Device POV/ POV of the AI
Framework conditions:
The AI has to be invisible/”in the screen”/the eyes of the viewer (not showing some new futuristic device or an old thing like Alexa -> claiming that there is some new technology but not showing/predicting how it looks like)
The POV can be from the phone or Laptop but also other “smart AI-augmented devices”: fridge, car interface, smart lamps, door locks, Airpods
Scenario structure possibilities:
A look into AI training data centers -> dialogue with “test person” – stroyline – interaction fails somehow – on screen: “FAIL – ERROR – TRY AGAIN/NEXT TEST SUBJECT” Working like a speed dating process: some interactions work well/have good outcomes, some fail
Same scenario but the interactions start off good, and working well but get worse with time ending with people just flipping out/chaos and “FAIL ERROR”s all the time and switching clips faster and faster -> Disaster crescendo
Pro-AI commercial: begin with a pro-maieutic “this-is-so-great” advertisement clip, then there is supposed to be a “show of implementation in real life” -> AI-POV-dialogue scenes – interaction comes close to fail – scene is cut off shortly before the obvious fail (seeming like bad cutting but making the viewer understand what conflict was about to come up)
Groups (characters interacting with the Maieutic AI that could create a good storyline):
Hippies that revert to also only talking in questions
strongly religious people that cannot stand the AI questioning their belief/god
Children: Why? why? why?
Seniors: not affine with any kind of technology
Single-parents
People falling into an existential crisis (maybe even suicidal)
Rebels
impatient/unwilling people that just want answers
Positive responders: super efficient, super creative
I had a talk with Martin about how I could progress after the midterms (thx Martin <3) and him and Niko both agree that what I need to figure out is storytelling, since that is where I have the most trouble according to outside observers.
I do agree that storytelling is hard, the challenge for me is filtering the relevant details and leaving out the unnecessary.
So Martin mentioned the rough outline most movies take when they get developed:phases of money-less
Plot
Treatment
Storyline
Scenes
Film
The plot is the rough premise of the film, whats going on?
The treatment is about distilling the interesting and relevant parts from the plot for the film.
The linear storyline is then formed from the treatment.
The scenes are selected through which the storyline will be told.
The film is finally the sequence of scenes.
Martin also recommended that I use a character through which I can tell the story while I explore the world and setting, where if something doesn’t work it can be rewritten.
Calling things names
A powerful weapon of our human mind is our ability to give objects, phenomena, patterns etc. names by which to distinguish it. By giving them names they become tangible for thoughts and communication.
– Me, ask Maria about it
To know the word toxic masculinity
In highschool, before I knew the term 'toxic masculinity' I wasn't aware it was its "own thing".
I wish I knew the phenomenon as such and to recognize it among my classmates.
Instead my understanding was "I just don't fit into the class" or "the boys are being homophobic" or "that's just testosterone" - the phenomenon was aggregated across multiple different vocabularies and not tangible on its own.
That doesn't mean 'toxic masculinity' is a phenomenon with absolute and certain existence, but it is just one of the many things we have given names in our navigation of life.
The various ‘things’ I want to name don’t have inherent names, so I have to give them vocabulary so I can refer to them as their own things. This enables me to refer to them efficiently and forms a basic vocabulary for the plot.
To avoid confusion between actual terminologies and fictional terminologies within the universe, real-world information is [placed in brackets].
Blackbox-Tech
Blackbox-tech (Noun.)
1.: Umbrella term for all technologies and technology adjacent practices characterised by an intentional design towards making the products unserviceable by end-users.
It is an advanced form and alternative term for the [closed-source software and hardware practices].
Similar terms include:
Blackbox (shorthand term, not to be confused with [aircraft blackboxes])
Locked hardware
Monolith
‘Apple’s favorite son’
Black Silicon
Black Silicon (Noun. Combination of Blackbox and Silicon)
Sometimes shortened to BS (derogatory).
1.: Refers to the IC chips used within most blackbox tech. [Their identification may be obfuscated and reverse-engineering is near-impossible, with the intensive process of die photography only allowing basic layout analysis.]
2.: More broadly techniques and microdevices with the function of obfuscation. Less technically correct term but also common among most [social bubbles].
Similar terms include:
Blackbox (not to be confused with [aircraft blackboxes])
(Silicon) Key (referring to the hardware activation key often saved within the chips)
Monolith
Terminology Directive
Hereby effective within all Productive Zones as defined in the Internal Economic Management Zones Index, the Terminology Directive, scedule I, is the terminology and vocabulary guidance intended for application and development within PZ’s for and of all productive equipment.
The Terminology Directive scedule I is intended to be the adherence guide for all conscious members cleared for economic activity and ensures a clear and concise communication pipeline between all system members within PZ’s.
Terminologies deviating from Terminology Directive guidance is discouraged due to their potential to degrade information integrity.
The “Terminology Directive” gives a authoritarian twist to the worldbuilding narrative which I am not sure is relevant.
Fixable
Fixable (Noun. Combination of ‘fixing’ ‘to fix’ and ‘-able’)
1.: Umbrella term referring to machines and devices characterised by their repairability.
Fixable (Adjective. Origin same as above.)
2.: Term referring to the repariable nature of said machines and devices.
Used primarily in the tinkerer social bubble.
Similar terms include:
Oldtimer tech (Misnomer. Implies manufacture before The Great Solve, but Fixables continue to be distributed)
Green Gold (Refers to the green trace mask found on older PCBs)
Cracking
Cracking (Verb.)
1.: The activity and process of reverse engineering or deobfuscating blackbox-tech. Colloquial term.
2.: The activity and process of retrieving hardware activation keys from system management chips. Colloquial term.
The adjacent professional process carried out by personnel is called ‘unlocking’ or ‘recovery’ (per Terminology Directive).
Hacking
Hacking (Verb.)
1.: [The activity and process of dismantling, analyzing and modifying] fixables and other assorted devices.
2.: [The activity and process of infiltrating digital systems for the purpose of observation, testing, espionage, data extraction etc. Activity may be distinguished into ‘white hat’ and ‘black hat’ activities, with ‘white hat’ hacking referring to hacking with benevolent intent and ‘black hat’ hacking referring to hacking with malicious intent.]
Similar terms include:
DIYing (adjacent to 1st meaning)
Cracking (adjacent to 2nd meaning)
Personnel
Personnel (Noun.)
1.: Inexact colloquial term for civilians with Productive Zone Activity Clearance. Professional term is ‘system member’ (per Terminology Directive)
Similar terms include:
Engineer (derogatory)
[Employee] (misnomer referring to pre-solve time monetary employment systems)
Tinkerer
Tinkerer (Noun.)
1.: Person involved in the activity of [Hacking, more specifically the dismantling, analysis and modification] of fixables and other devices.
Similar terms include:
Tin-cans (derogatory)
[Hacker] (referring to by the tinkering aspect of the term hacking)
‘Persons with potential to unauthorized activity’ (per Terminology Directive)
The terms listed here have varying degrees of relevance and may be removed or expanded upon depending on complexity needs.
The Plot
Most devices the common person come in contact with are monolithic in nature and are not intended to be tampered with.
A world where…
Money is changed beyond recognition
Jobs are changed beyond recognition
Complex systems and machines are everywhere, intended to be not understood by a regular person
World questions
Does the governing body surveil and censor?
What are some laws and restrictions?
Is there “lost technology?”
The Protagonist
Active tinkerer
“who throws this away?”
knows of the world before the great solve??
Knows to take apart and modify complex systems
World inspirations
Ghost In The Shell (1995) -> Cyberisation of everything
Protagonist Motoko Kusanagi’s cyborg body (high end state/military tech) in assembly. Most people dont have/cant afford cyberized upgrades (cyborg limbs) but usually have a “cyberbrain” – electronic enhancements for the brain for direct internet access, communication etc.
The spreading of cyberbrains among the masses makes common people subsceptible against hacking.
Adaptation for my story
Invasive and complicated blackbox-tech is spread among people like phones today, enabling the post-finance-labour economy, but it comes at a cost.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind -> Lost/old/traditional technologies persevering
Translation: “engine harvesting is not the priority right now!”
Background: Engines (used for airplanes) are a lost technology, the only options are harvesting from old machines or mining from ancient sites, a catalyst for territorial and resource disputes.
Adaptation for my story
Old simple and/or hackable electronic tech is a lost technology, only found in valuable scraps
My own technofantasy world – creatively named “Altras”
This is a freetime fantasy worldbuilding project I had kicking around from back when I was involved in a roleplaying group and deeply enamored with the idea of writing my own world setting. It dates back to around 2018.
It incorporates my nostalgia for Japan’s futuristic cityscape, an “all governing authoritarian AI system”, cool flying vehicles, industrial gigantism, and other interests which were relevant to me at the time. The premise of this universe is not very original and largely derives itself from Homestuck, especially the social hierarchy aspect.
It is also an example of when I was overly ambitious in writing an original world, having absolutely no idea what to do with it other than adding to it to fill a void of nostalgia I had for Japan at the time. This left the whole project direction- and meaningless. A visual manifestation of it could be interpreted in the faceless buildings and lifeless streets.
I bring this world up here because I want to use it as a bad example in many ways and want to learn from its failings so I do not end up making a similarly lifeless world.
What is the story I’m trying to tell?
As I’m expanding and editing this blog I realize that I have not internalized an official reason for going in this direction. But as I expand I also notice that the details I add carry a cynical undertone on the current development of technology, and my speculation of its development in an authoritarian direction. (I am close to playing into the conspiracy theory flavor of technology no less, despite my dismissal of its unfounded claims with problematic backgrounds.)
Should this be a story about a small underground movement against the regime? Doesn’t that sound too cliché? This kind of self doubt leaves me spiraling in a creative rut every so often.
Giving the world a body
Rambling…
To break out of this spiral I need outside input. Taking the rapid prototyping approach, trying imperfect ideas rapidly helps more than giving in to perfectionism. Having conversations with people is healthy for a reason.
I want to collect feedback and impressions from others on the setting and direction I am going in. Professionally of course I talk with the tutors periodically, but the lack of progress is humiliating and in my case sometimes leads to me inflating claims or improvising too much.
With the fellow students in a casual setting I feel less tension and performance anxiety, and seeing them daily helps with rapid prototyping. In order for me to be able to test the ideas and collect feedback, the world as a whole needs a working body, that is, I can’t collect good feedback if my question goes “in a speculative world setting I want to tell, do you think mentioning the authoritarian regime makes sense?”
For a start I will derive a boilerplate world with mostly undefined and default conditions and graft the key ideas in, focusing only on collecting feedback around the key ideas and potential interactions and questions that arise.
I could just answer the questions for myself, but this leads to a kind of hyperfocusing and incomplete story not unlike what happened to ‘Altras’. Engaging in a conversation settles down my mind in a slower thinking pace, preventing unnecessary rabbit holes like the last four paragraphs.
So here goes: In a future where big tech has expanded their power in the world economy through data aggregation, but in a future where extreme authoritarianism has not yet brought about the end of humanity as a whole.
Our protagonist, [name to be determined], lives a less normal life among the civilians. They have recently found a community of Tinkerers, and using their skill acquired from years of technical interest, now regularly visits their activities, among other things disassembling decomissioned equipment and learning their insides.
‘My dad always rambled about how back in classic times, families had their professions. That’s where they got their surnames from. The children inherit the business and wealth and are responsible to lead it for the next generation. Its a clear case of division of labour, where one is only an expert in one field and is left to the elements in any other field. It classifies people into one role they can be. I don’t agree with that. Why can’t I do sports, build airplanes and know my way around computers at the same time?’ – The protagonist, based on my experience
In a post-scarcity society without money or traditional work, cities focus on social interaction, cultural expression, and shared values. Built environments are designed to support community rather than economic efficiency.
City Layout Concepts
Circular Cities Promote equality, accessibility, and natural flow.
Cluster Communities Thematic neighborhoods that strengthen identity and belonging.
Commons-Based Structures No private property hierarchy; shared living, workshops, and free transport.
Organic / Biophilic Design Architecture prioritizes harmony and beauty; regenerative materials and bio-3D printed buildings.
AI-Personalized City Adaptive modular environments tailored to individuals and communities.
Architecture references:
Walking city
Pieter Thiel, Nick Land & Curtis Yarvin
Pieter Thiel:
“Competition is for Losers”
one of Palantirs and PayPals founders, biggest funder for AI startups
reinterpreted mimetic theory
markets and competition are a form of mimetic rivalry, monopolies are superior
Nick Land:
propagates Anti-Humanism: technology and capital emancipated themselves of the parasitic humanity
not the humans controlls capital; capital controlls humans (not bad in his view), democracy is to slow and inefficient, Dark enlightment
Curtis Yarvin
radical anti-democrat
get rid of big states and transform them in tiny authoritarian city-states (citys are like nodes that are connected with each other)
Religion:
possible research question: Could AI take on the role that religion once fulfilled?
Could AI take on the role that religion once fulfilled?
Karl Marx: “Die Religion ist das Opium des Volkes” , “Religion is the self-consciousness and self-esteem of someone who has either not yet won through to herself/himself.”
In an uncertain world, AI gives people the comfort of easy confirmation of their own beliefs.
Christianity-> AI as creator of knowledge and structures
Buddhism-> AI as false enlightenment through perfection and comfort
datacenters and server farms as new temples/ church, centers of worship
‘Religions’ in connection with AI: Way of the Future: “humans should begin “building relationships” with this emerging intelligence, treating it not as a tool but as a moral and spiritual authority.”
Efficience:
the most energy efficient way of moving is a human on a bicycle (human machine connection)
AI datacenters = not efficient
Buildings as a place for religion
The Brutalist-> place for christianity but also community and students to come togheter
→ how much closer to the end of the movie, how brighter the colours → Nova’s mind becomes clearerer
Forms:
Story
Sessie with Soph:
Test Story 1
Elias grows up in a world still full of sound, chaos, and human imperfection.
Neural interfaces emerge, promising emotional harmony and collective thought.
His mother warns that machines that “understand you” will eventually control you.
After her death, Elias gets implanted to escape grief.
His early, faulty implant prevents full synchronization, leaving him able to feel independently.
The world becomes the Algorithmic Church, where work is prayer and thought feeds the power grid.
Doubt creates “static,” and individuality is treated as a threat.
Elias plays the role of perfect Devotee but keeps hidden emotions and forbidden dreams.
A faint inner voice tells him to “Remember,” preserving the last piece of human warmth in a mechanized world.
Script
Scene 1 – Arrival
Nova receives minimal food due to her low synchronization score, while others are rewarded for perfect alignment. The entire facility moves in harmony with a pulsating AI rhythm, replacing individuality with conformity. New arrivals are stripped, cleaned, and integrated without emotion. Nova’s scan reveals deviation, grief, and memory traces, yet she is allowed to continue. A final AI message warns her that “efficiency creates God” before she proceeds.
Scene 2 – The Ritual
Devotees train in synchronized breathing around a central tower that monitors and celebrates perfect alignment. The people don`t power the AI, they take care of rhythmic coherence, it stabilizes a hypersensitive neuronal model. When Nova joins, her slight breathing deviation immediately lowers the system’s efficiency. The AI sends a correction prompt urging her to follow an exemplary devotee. A glitch appears referencing a forbidden memory sequence. Nova ignores all prompts, staying outwardly still.
Scene 3 – Memory
Nova slips into a dark, empty room at night where her breathing drifts away from the AI rhythm. A mysterious second breath appears, and she sees a point-cloud reflection slightly ahead of her movements. The system identifies it as an unauthorized memory signal and tries to suppress it. The reflection dissolves, but the room’s pulse briefly follows her breath. Nova returns to the old rhythm, now deliberately louder.
Scene 4 – Rest
Nova sits alone in the training room until another devotee quietly joins her. Their breathing aligns naturally but never fully synchronizes. The tower detects “human resonance” and chooses not to intervene. The newcomer discards an amulet, briefly disturbing the room’s pulse. Nova looks out at a freely moving tree and smiles as the AI begins searching for a mysterious energy loss – her deviation.
Setting draft: Big tech and the MIC put out technologies which slowly trickle down to consumers.
Its obviously bad products, think Alexa espionage, HP printer ink subscription, Adobe the “creative” monopoly, Palantir the all seeing “all humans are stuipd” stone, Windows11 the computer to ewaste converter, Apple “you are holding it wrong” design, YouTube the “for safety of the children we have removed bad words” video platform.
Their unethical practices, be it design practices or treatment of humans, are questioned and criticised by the tinkerers while they analyse the faulty products.
At Metalab, a vastly diverse group of people have a space where they can tinker, talk, connect and follow their various interests and projects. What brings them together is the space offering tools and a space where they can do what they want to do. Many of the members also represent minorities often not visible in daily life, like people on the spectrum, visusally or auditorily impaired people, transgender and queers etc.. Metalab offers them a safe space with set rules for everyone so that everyone can feel welcome.
What tinkerers could be doing in my futures scenario
Taking apart lost equipment
Scenario: Every now and then mil-tech is lost in the woods. Hackers find them and learn how they work and what the military is up to.
Taking matters into their own hands
Be it by bypassing ink chips on printers or distributing info and survival tips to the socially disadvantaged and outcast, they wish to regain control of the things close to them.
They are a diverse group of individuals from all places of society
I see Tinkerers as a more desirable holder of our future than where our future is headed right now (i.e. billionaires owning the future, big tech making proprietary products).
Because of their niche Tinkerers are a subculture not very visible or understandable to the average person.
And I think we should change that. I believe everyone should have the right to understand what is happening in the machines they own. I think everyone should have the right to own things, not lend a license to using it.
Story A – the invention of believe system that builds a moral prision
extracting things, using things, changing things, destroy and build,
Story includes poisoned food, maybe it is maybe it´s not
example: attached plastic bottle caps are needed because of environment, only use material with “moral good” sticker, xxx invades yyy, we need to help yyy and also fight xxx because xxx is bad
=very distant story
Story B – time consciousness
story about altering time perception
examples: read book, mountain hike with friend, waiting room, sex, create smth, watch smth = distant story
Story C – improvise
something, let my subconsiusness do the work = personal story
People start to breed crazy food crops to have a special ingridient for the next Story Performance Dinner, some start creating tableware and other appliances to up the Story game.
Algebraic Story Settings
A=Creator, B= Watcher, C=Curator 1 Person Story Dinner: A has cool story and listens to it A has no story -> looks for story or ends their story (creator becomes watcher/curator)
B finds no Story to listen -> becomes Creator or Curator or doesn’t value Story Dinners anymore (maybe dies, because lack of values)
C has no Story to listen -> tries to create an ensemble of creators and watchers -> if fail, becomes B with no story
2 Person Story Dinner:
AA A has cool story B not interested to listen A has bad Story B wants to listen A has no Story B wants to experience a Story ( Creator gets watcher – Watcher gets creator A has story but C not interested -> A looks for B
B wants Story A creates Story -> C looses importance B want no Story A creates Story -> 1 Person A and 1 Person B BB
B and C -> maybe next time Mutliperson
CC
Multiperson Story Dinner: A create cool Story B C
AAB
AAC
ABB
ACC
BBC
BCC
Week 2
Which stories do we choose to listen to?
What/Why/How
(old trash- Everything digital lost its value, as most is AI created and it´s hard to f
Everything digital is spammed with AI, there is no trust in any digital transmitted information anymore. When you chat with someone you´re not sure if AI is responding or the Person. When you call someone you don´t know if you´re talking to a voice clone. When you watch videos you don´t know if they are real or generated. Digital interaction lost their value. People become conscious about their closer surroundings and they care about it.)
People start organizing communal Storytelling Performance Dinners where they share things they care about by adding it to the storyline .
The Story is told in an abstract surreal way, through moving objects, arranged at the dinner table. No words, universal understandable. Eatable and non eatable ones, poisoned or umami 2000 super tastes.
Bier anstoßen damit gift in alle schwappt; könig hat vorkoster, falls essen vergiftet
Set Design Tryouts
experiments for possible ways to create Setdesign and props
Mold creation for Papier-mâché object
Set Design with Papier-Mâché
Experiments using Toothpicks to create props
Week 1
Develop Community
How is community life organised?
everyone can decide on his own what they want to do with their time, groups form with people who spent time similarly, If one decides spending time differently they end up in the differently time spender group. Connecting within a time spender community and others is done via communal Storytelling Performance Dinners.
Who do people become? What do they fight for?
People become either passive watchers or creators or curators (can also be Algorythm). They fight for creation of nice stories and tasty cooking skill.
Do activities that were considered marginal, for example, hobbies, take on new value, perhaps becoming central?
Stay the same, if a hobby is currently just a side thing it will also be side thing then. If it had more value it wouldn´t be considered marginal
What does competition and cooperation look like?
people compete through Storytelling Performances. In their communitys they try to create the best timeless Abstract Story Performance.
Do social status or hierarchy persist? How?
High story skill status in one group might be low story skill status in a other one. During the Performance there is no real hierarchy because all members of a Storytelling Performance will leave when they don´t like the story or food tastes bad. Watchers might propose story changes during the performance, Creators might change to Watchers for the rest of the Performance, Curators might choose participants that don´t fit to create a good story this time. There are private, secrete, closed Story performances (these eventualy get bored as they lack new input), but also open diversified ones. Still each Story Performances dinner can never be experienced twice or repeated as the food is eaten and the Participants change. However there is life expectancy risk as Watchers will lack purpose if creators continuously tell Stories they don´t want to listen, or curators fail to bring up fitting Story Dinners. This marks the beginning of a new value system in the community
Week 0
if money is gone, there is a loss of interaction of exchanging trust, this trust gap needs to be filled.
modern still live instead of fruit bowls and meat, true fruits innocent smoothie und veggie nuggets
how can trust be fostered through ceremonies?
clara peeters – Still life with grapes on a tazza, a basket of fruit, two crayfish on a plate and a squirrel (1613) – luxury objects, no old values, during economic/politicla recveryPieter Aertsen, Vanitas Stillleben (1552) – change of believe in God (now just background) to money and thingsHans Maler zu Schwaz – Portrait of Anton Fugger (1525) – change from painting Adelige to Handelsleute
“If human growth is fueled by emotion, can a world built on perfection still nurture the complexity of being human?”
Topic Re-Introduction
heart of this project lies in the role of emotion — especially frustration
force that drives growth, learning, creativity, and transformation
So we ask: If a “solved world” erases friction, does it also erase the very mechanism that makes us evolve?
Connection & Relatability
naturally gravitated toward emotional dimension of future
Frustration is universal — it shapes humanities evolution
mirrors already present trajectory of a society increasingly optimised to comfort, efficiency and emotional smoothing
Speculating about what happens to this emotion in a world without obstacles felt like a genuine question worth asking
As life becomes easier, what happens to our inner complexity?
ResearchResults
Gaining understanding of Frustration through a Professional Point of View
ScreenshotScreenshot
“Essentially, frustration describes the emotional state experienced when facing failure, disappointment, or a lack of success due to unmet or disappointed expectations.”
“… frustration can also lead to motivation (e.g., through new problem-solving strategies, creative approaches, reflection on existing and setting new (realistic) goals, but also through reflection on one’s own expectations. “Failure as a driving force” for further development, opportunity to learn, stimulation of creativity and strengthening of resilience.”
“In cultures where people value politeness highly and in strict regimes, frustration is often suppressed.”
Setting the Scene
… imagine a future that appears near-utopic at first glance— a solved world.
humanity seems to have finally reached the state it always dreamed of
Beneath, something essential has begun to fade
Emotional depth is quietly diluted in the name of harmony
Discomfort, frustration and inner turbulence are seen as unnecessary, impolite or even inappropriate
Result: erosion of humanness
Our world explores the collision between the performed ideal of perfection andthe unchanged truth of human imperfection.
The Community: An Art Movement
Their role is to make people awake thought and feelings that are not socially accepted
consists of people who are driven to meet up with others to express their frustrations
Reasons for Frustration
AI has made machinic perfection the standard
Social norm to not critisize this perfect society
Gain of joining the Community
reconnect with your humanness
Outlet for bottled up emotions
Community is showcased through
Art pieces put out in the cityscape
Theatre Group
Character Introduction
Making Of: Sound and Storytelling
documentary will follow a single storyline centered on one protagonist who is a member of our community. Through this character, we aim to portray a personal story that reflects the collective spirit and connections within our community.
We have chosen to begin by focusing on storytelling through sound, using it as the primary medium. Moving images will then be added to complement and enhance the narrative.
Our goal is for sound and image to merge seamlessly.
In the 1500 opera was revolutionary: they were saying “let emotion and story lead, not rules.” → So opera’s origin was already a liberation of human expression → a return to emotional truth and individuality
Questions for us
How can we portray the tension between our community and this world?
How can we get the watcher/listener engaged and relate to our story through sound?
How will the emotional curve of our story and rhythm look like?
Questions to you
Do you want the exact story of the protagonist by mid-terms?
“what does the further execution of the effective accelerationist agenda mean for our social and intellectual abilities?”
A project by “technopositivists” for those still to be convinced. In taking on this role, to show the absurdity of this ideology
From here:
Looking for a persona to use as a vessel for our narrative
Interacting with the community– quite dead.
while trying to interact with the discord community, we asked ourselves, “how does one even become a member?”
This led us to the topic of indoctrination.
We decided to investigate different ways to communicate this notion.
Unfortunately, through analysis of twitter activity which was more prominent than the discord, we realized that communication is very simple and not attempting to manipulate, as propaganda would.
Simultaneously, we had brainstorming of visualization methods.
Ideation: 1st attempt
Army recruitment stand– combining the fascist nature of a futurist ideology speaking in absolutes and the indoctrination required for such movements to succeed.
Adopting this visual language to create an e/acc recruitment stand
Disagreements: lacks criticality and would just be staging a scene. What role would the people play that we interact with? Are we simply messing with them? Why should a digital community engage with people offline?
Ideation: 2nd attempt
2 Truths and a Pitch
research of personas and investment projects
A community based on innovation: what innovation?
Disagreements: the goal of coming up with something more absurd to show how absurd this ideology is, is quite difficult.
All of our brainstormed ideas sounded plausible and couldn’t beat the mosquito drone
Conclusions What would be we gain by imagining another absurd product. We are living in such an absurd era, that our ability to shock and provoke is a) limited, and b) not as powerful as we thought.
The Onion problematic post-Trump
Language of absurdity is not the way to go.
Going forward:
Using contrast as a method as opposed to reinforcing.
Absurdity = playing into e/acc tropes Contrasting = communicating our disagreements and being critical
The world is flawless – no hunger, no poverty, no conflict. AI tends to every need. What happens to the human need to search, to yearn, to feel?
When their bodies began signaling that something was wrong, the community turned to digital archives in search of answers. There, they uncovered traces of ancestral knowledge – rituals once used to reconnect the body with the mind and with the earth, to feel pain, imperfection and belonging beyond the reach of AI.
Reaching out to people in the sex work industry to ask them about the impact of AI in their field:
Questions:
What is intimacy?
What are the sociological and psychological aspects of it?
What is digital intimacy?
What is sexual autonomy?
How did feminist movements create sexual autonomy for women?
…
Intimacy is not a fixed state, but a process of negotiation. It arises through relationship, communication, and consent. Feminist and queer productions portray intimacy as something real, contradictory, sometimes imperfect — and that is their strength. Especially in times of AI, intimacy is being renegotiated — also between humans and technology.
– Jasmin Hagendorfer
Second Session with Soph
choosing Intimacy as our broad topic (keeping the porn industry aspect in the background)
Saeed’s workshop
Workshop product itself: Satirical aspect
We didn’t like that our video “made fun” of people that want to experience sexuality in ways common people are not used to
=> Led our community towards activism
In the ‘solved world’, the image of women, their bodies and sex is twisted and warped into unrealistic standards
our community would fight against that
for us: difficult to imagine how that could look like, still explicit because of the porn aspect
Matthew’s workshop
(see other post)
We moved away from sex and toward intimacy through gestures (specifically hands and touch), including intimacy outside of romantic relationships, for example: friendships, family, intimacy in comforting and listening, etc. Also intimacy in encounters with strangers, and so on.
Creating a story
instead of creating a community around intimacy => focus on creating intimacy (and maybe community) throughout the story
focus on one or fewer characters = more personal
What’s the situation and environment for our character?
We decided that in our film, we want to represent intimacy through storytelling rather than focusing directly on a community. We want to show one or two people in our documentary who, in some way, are involved with AI companions (owning AI companions, “programming” or finalizing AI companions for others = character trainers) and portray their intimacy as well as the related problems, questions, lifestyles, and so on.
We moved away from the porn industry, but we’re not completely ruling out that it might still have an influence on our subjects or on the AI companions.
How does intimacy appear for our character?
What is the message we want to convey with our movie?
