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XR Performance · Juilliard Innovation in the Arts

AMERICAN A.I.

Cognitive bias and the American Dream

RoleDirector · Writer · Choreographer · Cinematographer · AI Design
Year2020
CommissionJuilliard Innovation in the Arts
ComposerKatie Jenkins

An XR performance using live audience data and real-time machine learning to ask what prompts moral exclusion — and whether AI can bridge divides instead of exploiting them.

Overview

01

AMERICAN A.I. explores the American Dream and what prompts moral exclusion — the cognitive mechanisms behind our inclination to view some Americans as "us" and some as "other." In the midst of the digital revolution, a person’s location, internet activity, and private conversations can all be recorded; this piece asks whether AI can increase understanding and connection rather than exploiting social and political divides.

Using survey responses gathered from a diverse community and the live audience, we built the database our neural networks drew on to generate the visuals and dialogue with machine learning in real time. The piece challenged the audience to suspend inherent biases and actively reimagine what it means to be American.

Watch

Film · 1:05

AM I DREAMING? — an excerpt from the performance

Credits

Juilliard · Beyond the Machine
Composer
Katie Jenkins
Set
Anna Drifter
Design
Paul Hudson, lighting · Caleb Wertenbaker, scenic · Nancy Dionne, cinematography · Attilio Rigotti, video + FX
Technology
Collin Chudwick, audiovisual + interaction · Kevin DeYoe, interactive technology
Musicians
Tabby Rhee · Emily Mantone · David Bender · Cameren Williams · Devin Moore · Xingyu Li
Dancers
Dylan Croy · Alex Haskins · MJ Edwards · Lua Mayenco · Jared Brown · Taylor Labruzzo · Peter Farrow
Production
Edward Bilous, artistic director · William David Fastenow, associate director · B. Rafidi, production stage manager · Nathan Prillaman, sound · Samson Stilwell, video