Phylum (Carlos Castellanos, Johnny DiBlasi, Bello Bello)

For the Coalesce Center residency, we will be exploring how “primitive” non-human organisms (bacteria) and adaptive intelligent machines evolve their behaviors in response to one another. Our work involves the pattern-forming social behavior of bacteria from the Bacillus and Paenibacillus genera, several of which produce intricate growth patterns in response to environmental conditions. Some are also being research for their bioremediation capabilities. We are developing a system that will create a situation where the fates of a contaminated soil ecology and cultures of these pattern-forming bacteria are determined by the whims of an artificial intelligence agent that has an internal model of “beauty”. These cultures will be placed under microscopes for observation and analysis by the AI. Growth patterns, colors and spatial dynamics will be analyzed by the AI to determine how well the colonies conform to its internal model of beauty. The more beautiful the bacteria appear to the AI the more of a remediating solution the soil receives and the more nutrients the bacterial cultures under the microscope receive. It is known however, that these bacteria only produce their intricate patterns under environmental stressors such as lack of food and moisture. Thus the AI will also have to reduce nutrient levels and introduce stress-inducing chemicals (e.g. non-lethal concentrations of antibiotics) into the bacterial cultures. In addition, the bacteria will be genetically modified in a way that manipulates their stress-response genes to express certain “beauty enhancements”. Thus in order to properly remediate the contaminated soil, the bacteria may have to starve themselves to look beautiful for the AI.

This work establishes a unique interplay between microorganisms, cultural notions of beauty and aesthetic judgement, the status and implications of intelligent machines and the impact of humans (and their technologies) on our ecology. Our motivation lies in creating an interface or window through which these organisms can convey their complexity and otherness using a language that can be understood by humans and the intelligent systems they create. In doing so it raises the question: Can we accept their value beyond their value to us and our “post-biological” technologies (whether as objects of aesthetic novelty or an unwitting labor force)?

http://phylum.cc

[phylum] is an experimental research collective specializing in cultural production informed by the intersections of science, technology and the arts. Our approach is exemplified by the embracing of aggressive transdisciplinarity and a continuously shifting, heterogeneous structure. We build systems and models that exhibit high degrees of uncertainty and ambiguity, which allows us to explore novel approaches to knowledge generation and experiential inquiry.