It is astonishing how significant strides we are making in technology and perhaps we are already unable to control what we have created. But where does the uniqueness that defines the essence and destiny of being human remain?

Engaging with Artificial Intelligence as we do leads to questions such as “What is Artificial Intelligence?” “What can A.I. do?” or “What should A.I. be able to do?”. However, this immediately and inevitably leads to a fundamental question: “What actually constitutes being human?”. Only against this backdrop can one ethically and philosophically engage with the possibilities and dangers of Artificial Intelligence.

And we found that intriguing. So, what sets humans apart from a conceivable future Artificial Intelligence? We have agreed on a fundamental triad of answers: Physicality, Transience, Uniqueness.

The consciousness of humans is inevitably bound to a body. The fate of humans is that their experiences and perceptions hence are unique, singular, and irrepeatable due to this. And the body is subjected to the unstoppable and equally irrepeatable process of transience between birth and death.

And therein lies simultaneously the tragedy, the suffering, but also the infinite beauty of being human.

“And what’s the deal with this art, anyway?”

On the way to the final performance, we posed the aforementioned questions. One of the most intriguing additional questions was whether art without humans – perhaps through Artificial Intelligence – is possible. To create a work of art, it first requires self-awareness, the ability to see oneself in difference and in relation to the world and other beings. From today’s perspective, Artificial Intelligence has not reached this point.

We assume that Artificial Intelligence can certainly develop its own consciousness.

Then the next question arises:

Why should Artificial Intelligence produce art at all?

Art is communication, an emotional and intellectual expression of the unique perspective of an individual, a way of making oneself understood in the world. Algorithms, theoretically boundlessly interconnected, and information that can be transformed through calculation, may never develop the desire to interpret the world or make themselves understandable to it.

Art is multifaceted, illogical, irrational and always remains somewhat inexplicable. In our opinion, art is deeply human and reserved for humans.

Or perhaps only human hubris speaks from these lines.