In the workshop Synthetic Organisms, participants are guided through stories and the rules of a self-developed board game to experience a shift in identity and perspective from humans to the plants and animals of the ecosystem. Participants experience the evolution of the ecosystem and the critical choices in adapting and evolving as plants and animals. As the workshop moves into the futuristic scenario of the year 2054, participants faced an existential crisis in virtual and imaginary time and roles.
The workshop provides game cards that inspire the group to design their own path of species evolution using future AI technology. At the end of the workshop, the commands given by the AI agents of each species prompted participants to go outside and gradually uncover the contradictions in the narratives, encouraging participants to think more deeply about the relationship between biology and technology.
The complexity of the information was emphasised by the continuous refinement and design of the interactive sessions: ‘Become the Others’, ‘A Message to the Future’ and ‘Hybrid Creature Proposal’, which ultimately enabled participants from different age groups to have an in-depth experience and contemplation of the complex issues of ecology, as well as to explore more about the future interaction between AI technology and the biological world.