In this era, we value the precious experience brought by technology, but failed to credit the substance that built them up. In this fast-changing world, do we still consider: how many kinds of chemical substances are our mobile phones made of? How long does it take for our planet to form these chemicals? And how often do we replace our phone with a newer model? Until the full arrival of cyborg, the relationships amongst mankind, machine and nature would always be drifting between virtuality and reality. The bond is subtle, slight, yet existential.

 

I talked to three artificial intelligences of different ages --Eliza, Parry and ALICE –and told them about the various problems arose from the modern technology media. I sought to break down the polarized opposite relationship between man and machine, go back in time for some ‘media archaeology’, and finally, further my research about the core question: how can mankind, machine and nature better coexist?

 

Eliza(1966), the world’s first artificial intelligence, speaks in a way that reminds you of a psychotherapist. Parry(1972), contrary to Eliza, is a paranoid schizophrenia patient.  Unfortunately, Parry’s source code is not compatible with modern network environment, thus not readable today. Normal people today would have no way to communicate with Parry. Alice is about my age, and compared to Eliza or Parry, she is much more humanoid.

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