As they learn, AI systems build rich and nuanced fields of possibilities, often called latent spaces. At BMO Lab we love to make this latent space tangible and explorable. As an AI research lab within a Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, we explore ways of navigating these latent spaces in an experiential, sometimes even visceral manner, involving us as humans in real space and real-time, making it possible to poke and prod AI systems, to build intuitions about what they are and are not. Director of the BMO Lab, David Rokeby, will do live demonstrations of a few of the systems the lab has been developing, and there will be a chance for attendees to interact with them themselves.

David Rokeby is an acclaimed digital artist and the director of the University of Toronto’s BMO Laboratory for Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies, and Artificial Intelligence. This laboratory focuses on integrating artificial intelligence, the performing arts, and humanities. 

Rokeby was trained in Toronto as a visual artist and is a self-taught software and hardware developer. In his art production, he is noted for original applications of machine vision, computational linguistics, and algorithmic performance. As a media theorist, he has published incisive articles on interactivity and virtual reality. Rokeby’s accolades include the Golden Nica award for Interactive Art from Ars Electronica (2002), the leading prize for this genre of digital art, and the Governor-General’s award for visual and media art.