Within the framework of the LOOP Barcelona fair, SENDA gallery presents a creation by the artist Xavi Bou (Barcelona, ​​1979) titled All the birds of the World. This video was created following an invitation for an artistic residency held from 2020 to 2022 at the University of Leuven in Belgium. In it, working with teams from different faculties, the artist raises the hypothetical possibility of monitoring and calculating the total number of birds on the planet, through the generation of Artificial Intelligence models that allow individuals of all species to be identified.

The trend in our society, organized through Big Data, is to control all information and track any useful parameter, including those from nature. Bou questions whether we will be able to register all the living beings on the planet through the analysis of both structured and unstructured information as a possible nod in the fight against the climate crisis and the restoration of ecosystems and habitats.

Thomas More wrote the book “Utopia” in 1516. It was first published in Dirk Martens’ printing house in Leuven. The book coins the concept of utopia and describes an ideal and peaceful society where people live free and in harmony with nature. For Thomas More, the establishment of a new method of government had to be based on a tool that guaranteed excellence in business administration: mathematics.

More than 500 years later, the algorithms generated by Artificial Intelligence and its capacity for exponential advancement restore the notions of utopia and dystopia articulated in the work of Xavi Bou. The ability to predict, understand, and work autonomously, simulating human intelligence, opens new uncertain horizons that scare and excite us at the same time.

Likewise, Bou’s work reflects and questions the capacity for control and the impact on the freedom and security of individuals fostered by the newly available tools.

Fears about the risks of Artificial Intelligence seem to be prevailing over the hopes generated by new opportunities. Bou’s vision does not offer certain answers to open questions but points out the idea that the proper use of this technology depends on the ethics of those who develop it and the ability of users to control their privacy and protect their data.

This work was carried out sometime before the launch of ChatGPT and other platforms that only confirm all the doubts, fears, and, why not, hopes that the author invites us to question through a work it transcends the theme and genre it addresses.

📅 21 – 23 Nov. 2023
📍 Hotel Almanac Barcelona