- New alliances
Seven Stories of Mellonopolis presents a series of speculative situations in which AI could be implemented in cities and how humans may develop cunning methods and behaviours to subvert this technology for their own individual self-interest.
This is neither a grand utopian or dystopian vision of the future. Instead it is a portrait of the banal, everyday reality of how normal people with regular human quirks find ways to get what they want in a city augmented with sophisticated yet ultimately naive artificial intelligence.
With AI already a part of our lives, but general artificial intelligence a long way off, the project invites the audience to question what life may be like in the not quite smart enough, smart city.
From pretending to be a child to cross the road quicker to disguising pigeons as crows to avoid paying a fine, we invite you to meet the residents of Mellonopolis and discover their mischievous relationship in the smart city of the not too distant future.
Still from a story – Merrick, a resident of the city of Mellonopolis wears a shirt designed to fool the city's AI-enabled street crossing system.
Still from a story – A van disguised as a cluster of bicycles to relieve its driver of usage fees.
Still from a story – A clear plastic roll strategically placed in urban environments to receive cleaning sooner.
Two viewers examine a citizen's pigeon trap, built to disguise pigeons as crows.
