Join in a playful VR exploration of artificial intelligence. North American premiere of Sandra Rodriguez’s CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY starts September 6 at the NFB Space in Montreal.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere—from the photo enhancer in your smartphone to the virtual assistant in your kitchen. But what is it exactly?

From September 6 through October 15, the NFB Space in Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles is hosting the North American premiere of the interactive virtual reality (VR) installation CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY: A playful conversation on AI.

Created by Sandra Rodriguez and co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Germany’s Schnelle Bunte Bilder, CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY is an engaging shared VR experience that lets participants to take part in a fun and collaborative exploration of the promises and pitfalls of AI.

CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY invites us to critically question the automation of intelligent human behaviour. If machine intelligence is promoted as an inevitable future, we should all be able to ask: What are we hoping to achieve with it? And at what cost?

About the experience

• CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY: A playful conversation on AI by Sandra Rodriguez
• Extended dates: September 6 to October 15
• A four-person shared VR experience; 45 mins.
• The NFB Space is located at 1500 Balmoral Street, facing Place des Festivals. Tickets are on sale now at chomskyvschomsky.ca.
• Producers: Marie-Pier Gauthier and Laurence Dolbec (NFB) and Schnelle Bunte Bilder
• Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/chomsky

Visitors use VR headsets to enter the AI world, where they are greeted by CHOM5KY—an artificial entity inspired by and built from the vast array of digital traces of renowned professor Noam Chomsky. CHOM5KY is a friend and serves as a guide, inviting us to peek under the hood of machine-learning systems, and offering thought-provoking takes on how artificial intelligence intersects with human life.

Through various forms of play, CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY debunks the limitations and possibilities of machine learning while uncovering the human capacity for creativity, inquiry and collaboration. The experience reveals how little we actually know about the human mind. So what is it exactly that we’re trying to replicate?

Why Noam Chomsky?

Professor Chomsky is a philosopher, social critic, historian and political activist, but is perhaps best known for his work in linguistics and cognitive science, the study of the mind.

As one of the most recorded and digitized living intellectuals, he has left behind an extensive wake of data traces, enough to create an AI system based on his legacy. Chomsky is also skeptical about the pompous promises made of AI. Which makes him the perfect guide to encourage visitors to question everything they see—and help demystify AI.

About Sandra Rodriguez

Sandra Rodriguez, Ph.D., is a renowned Montreal-based director/producer and sociologist of new media technology. She has written and directed documentary features, web docs and VR, XR and AI experiences that have garnered multiple awards, including a Peabody, best VR awards at DOK Leipzig and the Prix Numix, and the prestigious Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica. She is also a Scholar and Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she leads “Hacking XR,” MIT’s first official class in immersive media creation.

About the NFB

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is one of the world’s leading digital content hubs, creating groundbreaking interactive documentaries and animation, mobile content, installations and participatory experiences. NFB interactive productions and digital platforms have won over 100 awards, including 21 Webbys. To access this unique content, visit nfb.ca.

About Schnelle Bunte Bilder

The media art collective Schnelle Bunte Bilder was founded in Berlin in 2011. Together with curators, musicians and other artists, they develop productions for exhibitions and cultural events.

French version here | Version française ici.

 About the NFB

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is one of the world’s leading digital content hubs, creating groundbreaking interactive documentaries and animation, mobile content, installations and participatory experiences. NFB interactive productions and digital platforms have won over 100 awards, including 21 Webbys. To access this unique content, visit NFB.ca.