AI is Not Magic Exhibition

Is AI an incomprehensible form of magic or a partner we can come to understand?

As the world undergoes dramatic change, technologies like AI are steadily seeping into the many crevices of our daily lives. How should we engage with AI, and how can we begin to understand our respective positions in this evolving relationship?

Technology is Not Magic

The Evolution of AI and the Future of Human Intelligence

At FabCafe, we’ve long explored the evolving relationship between humans and AI through a series of discussions without our creative communities.

One such event held last year, “AI Through the Lens of Anthropology,” welcomed guests including design and art duo Playfool (Daniel Coppen and Saki Maruyama), media artist and game developer Tomo Kihara, and anthropologist Akinori Kubo. Together, they examined the question: “What if AI had developed from a perspective other than human-style thinking?”

Rather than judging AI through the common human-centric lens of whether it is “better or worse than us,” the discussion challenged us to rethink our assumptions about intelligence itself.

Event Report (Japanese only)『AIの進化が問いかける、人間の知性のあり方──遊びや人類学から探索する、新たな創造のカタチ』(Event held in May, 2024)

How might human abilities be expanded through collaboration with AI?
How could our creativity evolve through conversations with AI?

This exhibition explores individual relationships with AI through trials in communication and collaboration. By showcasing the diverse ways people engage in dialogue and co-create with AI, this exhibition reflects on the evolving dynamic between humans and this emerging presence, inviting each of us to consider where we stand.

Participating Artists & Projects (Released sequentially)

Techno Graphical Data Archive

Traditional cultures around the world are steadily declining due to natural disasters, war, climate change, and population decline. In particular, in the field of traditional crafts that require human skills, technological innovation has led to higher degrees of automation and efficiency, accelerating the disappearance of traditional techniques. In Japan, artisans of traditional crafts are aging, and there are many cases where traditional skills and knowledge that have been customarily passed down orally are lost without being recorded or passed on to the next generation. This problem of cultural loss is not limited to just Japan, but is occurring all over the world. Many traditional craft artisans are elderly, between 70 and 90 years old, and their “skilled techniques” are being lost. The mission of this project is to promote the preservation and inheritance of local culture by digitizing the skills of traditional craft artisans and archiving them on a data platform accessible from around the world.