Prolog - Reenacting Darthouth

Three-day conference by ima in cooperation with solektiv St. Pölten
In scope of whitebox ai September 18 to 20, 2025
Mobiles Stadtlabor, Spratzener Kirchenweg 81 - 83, Sonnenpark St. Pölten

n the summer of 1956, a pivotal event in the history of computer science occurred in Dartmouth, a small town in the US state of New Hampshire. From mid-June to mid-August 1956, Dartmouth College hosted the so-called Dartmouth Conference, where John McCarthy coined the term Artificial Intelligence (AI). He wanted to set his field off from narrower terms such as cybernetics or the automata theory, and today his neologism continues to be viewed as the perfect branding for this technology.

At the conference, a group of scientists (all men) discussed the possibility of equipping machines with intelligent behavior. These scientists represented various disciplines, such as mathematics, psychology and engineering their work laid the foundation for modern AI research. Although the participants did not make any immediate breakthroughs, the conference set in motion a wave of research and development that ultimately led to today’s advances in AI.

Reenacting Dartmouth references this event, since fault lines and fundamental questions tend to become more visible just as new technologies are emerging, rather than after they have already become widely established. The current hype often obscures the view of causal characteristics of artificial intelligence and its derivatives.

According to their interests, each of the members of the curatorial team focuses on one specific aspect of the characteristics of and interaction with AI and expands her or his thematic field by inviting two guests from various fields of research and application to Reenacting Dartmouth. Artistic as well as sociopolitical and philosophical aspects will be presented, analyzed, commented on and performed at this conference.

You are cordially invited to take part in these discussions because together we shape the future!