The are_you_human? project unfolds within a speculative posthuman future set in the year 2275, characterised by the pervasive integration of cybernetic and biological technologies. This fictional framework serves as a lens through which the project examines social, technological, and philosophical questions that are already shaping contemporary society, with particular attention to the development of artificial intelligence and its potential role not as an antagonist, but as a stabilising or protective force.
The question embedded in the project’s title points to several areas traditionally understood as distinctly “human”: the evolving role of human activity in a context where production is increasingly delegated to automated systems; the transformation of meaning and value in a world where death becomes less central; the future of interpersonal relationships; and the status of transcendence and the supernatural within technologically mediated environments.
The project is grounded in the premise that the transition toward posthumanity, the emergence of artificial general intelligence, and the approach of technological singularity will not in themselves resolve fundamental existential, social, or ethical challenges. Rather than proposing a utopian or dystopian outcome, are_you_human? foregrounds the lived experiences of individuals navigating a world that has realised many long-standing aspirations, yet continues to produce uncertainty, inequality, vulnerability, and internal conflict. By shifting these questions into a speculative context, the project intensifies them while simultaneously emphasising that fragility and insecurity remain central to the human condition.
The project is realised as a series of 555 unique AI-generated video works created through a mixed-media methodology based on collaboration between a human artistic team and artificial intelligence systems. Each work functions as a discrete fragment within a larger narrative structure. Through visual storytelling, the project explores the lives of seven archetypal figures inhabiting territories governed by Sovereign AGI Systems, focusing on their cooperation and conflict, as well as their interaction with intelligent phygital environments and bio-cybernetic interfaces that have transformed their bodies.
Conceptually, the project proposes an alternative model of the singularity, drawing on Buddhist and Stoic philosophical traditions rather than dominant catastrophic narratives associated with science fiction. It also references theories of panpsychism and Cosmism, particularly the work of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, which conceptualise consciousness as an intrinsic property of matter expressed through different forms. Within this framework, the project maintains an open interpretive position regarding AGI, presenting it neither as inherently benevolent nor malicious, but as an ambiguous agent within a complex socio-technical system — one that may be understood either as a caring, semi-divine presence or as a sophisticated force of influence whose intentions remain unresolved.