Spiritual Machines: Algorithms, Code, and the Divine[London]

In this edition of Future Inventions, we’ll trace how humans have always sought to use technology in pursuit of something beyond ourselves. We see this in the rise of spirit photography in response to widespread grief during the Black plague or early understandings of electricity as magic and we see this today through phenomena like people turning to AI for spiritual guidance or to connect with deceased loved ones thorugh grief bots. We’ll expand on the spiritual and dimensions of artificial intelligence and machine learning, specifically how machines mirror our longing for connection and transcendence. We’ll also look at artists who work with these intersections, from AI-generated ancestral portraits to technological practices that transform code into ceremony. Note that we are not necessarily advocating for this kind of use, but more so interested in the context behind it as well as some of the harms suich as AI psychosis. If you have similar questions or curiosities, join us!

Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can between £5-12 with a few free tickets reserved for those who are currently unwaged or cannot afford to attend otherwise. We do not want this to cause a financial barrier to anyone please email us if you need a free ticket at [email protected].

How is this going to go?

We’ll begin with an open lecture unpacking histories of technology, magic, and belief. Then, in a hands-on workshop, we’ll build a collective oracle: a small AI bot trained on participant input about the values, tenets, and visions guiding us through our time. You’ll share reflections through a simple form, feed the dataset, and together we’ll watch as the system generates new idioms, proverbs, and messages back to us. The process will open a conversation on what we hold sacred and what it means to speak through an artificial medium.

There will be soft drinks, snacks and pizza/small chops but feel free to bring your own dinner if you’d like.

Refunds: This is a small team and so we cannot accommodate refunds but if plans change, let us know as soon as you can and we can add your ticket to the waitlist or share it online to try and pass it on to someone else

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

ustwo London, 154-158 Shoreditch High Street, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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