In “Utopian Algorithm #1,” a non-cynical algorithm seeks to find the Internet’s lost Utopia by thwarting social media popularity algorithms to reveal the videos nobody gets to see.
Composer: Amy Alexander
Utopian Algorithm #1 is a composition by Amy Alexander and Curt Miller for PIGS (Percussive Image Gestural System) generated from personal video narratives on the moment as posted by members of the public on YouTube.
As of Spring 2018, PIGS compositions can be created using a pseudo/anti-artificial intelligence. A “curator” algorithm analyzes newly uploaded public YouTube videos for specified characteristics. The AlgoCurator is run immediately before the performance, so Alexander and Miller are seeing these videos of “the moment” for the first time as they improvise. Loosely provoked by the question: “What if an algorithm attempted to convert YouTube into Stan VanDerBeek’s utopian vision of a networked ‘culture intercom,’”the AlgoCurator currently works against YouTube’s algorithms, which encourage posters to upload content intended for commercialization. “Intelligent” algorithms seek to tell us what’s important, but often simply popularize the sensational while burying quieter voices. The AlgoCurator deliberately works against these algorithms. Read more in the AlgoCurator FAQ.
The AlgoCurator made its live debut at ICLI in Porto, June 2018 with “Utopian Algorithm #1.” “Utopian Algorithm #1” was also used to curate the content in these videos.