< Program overview

In the first half of the nineteenth century, textile workers in northern England were in revolt due to the arrival of new looms. The machines could perform the labour, for which they had been apprenticed for years, faster and cheaper. This group of textile workers called themselves Luddites, and became known for destroying these machines out of protest. Despite their resistance, they were unable to stop the progressive thinking these new looms were a part of.

This progressive thinking is rearing its head again in the hype surrounding ‘AI’. As in the nineteenth century, at least according to the big tech companies, we should fear for our jobs. In We Work Like Peasants While AI Is Out There Painting and Writing Poetry this assumption is challenged. The exhibition features artworks that visualise and concretise the human labour hidden behind the automated processes called AI. In doing so, they highlight how these advanced technologies may appear autonomous but in reality are not so. At the same time, the art gives us a handle on how we can relate to the algorithmisation of work: can we, like the Luddites, resist it? And how much of a chance does our resistance have?