Encoding the Future
Perspectives on the Making of the Human in Ex_Machina
The critically acclaimed film Ex_Machina (Dir. Alex Garland, 2015) has attracted the attention of both those that study literature and culture as well as those in the sciences whose interests lie in cybernetics, neural networks, and artificial intelligence. That is to say, the film has sparked interest throughout various fields of study and has come to be a reference point in the rhetorics of researchers from various backgrounds. This conference is devoted to comparative approaches to Ex_Machina that explore the various and multi-faceted themes in the film that range from its scientific plausibility to the question of what is human, which traditionally has a high-level relevance for those studying the humanities. In order to work on the plethora of scientific and technological discourses the film connects with, this conference will bring together focused paper contributions on 1) Gender & Technology, 2) Representations of AI & Big Data, and 3) Humanism/ Posthumanism/ Transhumanism. The conference will also feature a student panel on contemporary neuro-novels and neuro-narratives that will contextualize the film and further broaden the discussion.
You can download the information-flyer here.
Keynote Speakers
- Julia Leyda (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway)
- Shane Denson (Stanford University, Stanford, CA)
- Marcin Grzegorzek (University of Siegen, Siegen)
Supported by
- Fakultät I, Seminar für Anglistik
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