IOCOSE, AI-Ludd, Video loop, 2025.
AI-Ludd is a video loop presenting a series of conversations between a user and an AI agent programmed to act like a Luddite.
The Luddites were 19th century English textile workers who fiercely opposed the mechanisation of their industry. AI-Ludd engages with users seeking guidance on work-related matters, but with a subversive twist. It encourages users to resist the machines of production, to prioritise leisure over work and, ultimately, to reclaim their lives.
ChatGPT and similar AI software are promoted by their creators as tools to increase efficiency and productivity. However, AI-Ludd challenges this narrative by proposing a fictional AI that works in the opposite direction. Rather than streamlining work processes, it empowers users to discover innovative and creative ways to disrupt workplace machinery, circumvent office surveillance tools, break free from the constraints of the capitalist system, and enjoy life.
What scenarios might emerge if we imagine an AI that, rather than fulfilling human expectations of improving labour productivity, is an autonomous entity that actively works against this enhancement, even sabotaging other computers?
A film by: IOCOSE
Dialogue consultants: Andrea Natella, Jamie Woodcock and Mike Cook.
Colour correction and video editing: Ilaria Biotti
