language Game[s]: Poetry, Logic and Artificial Language

A one-day symposium and pop-up exhibition, Language Game[s] will include paper presentations, performances and creative works drawn from the fields of philosophy, artificial intelligence, robotics, science, poetry, linguistics. Alongside academic papers, the day includes a series of presentations by poets and artists, which take a ‘performative' view of the central role of language and its move towards machines/code. In addition, a pop-up exhibition exploring the themes and questions of the symposium will be available to view during the event.

Language Game[s] considers the association between language and human consciousness, and how developments in technology might affect this relationship. Language Game[s] proposes to examine the following questions: what is language as a primary human technology, and how are both language and us, being changed due to the rise of artificial/simulated language systems? In short: what is language, when it is no longer made by humans, but by a machine? Can a machine produce poetry in anything but name?

Where does meaning lie in language? Philosophical discourses tend to assume that language is something produced by human beings. Is linguistic meaning supplied by human consciousness, or does it take place in the material act of expression (speech/writing)? If meaning in language resides within ‘the human’ and is an expression of thinking, then what happens when language migrates to machines?

At present, Artificial Language systems (such as Siri and/or Amazon Echo) mimic the forms of human speech, but cannot replicate the cognitive processes which lie behind language. As technology develops and Artificial Language systems become ever more autonomous, how will this affect us?

Convened by Dr Sheena Calvert and presented by Camberwell, Chelsea, Wimbledon Graduate School Public Programme.

Booking Essential. Book your place here: http://estore.arts.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/ccw/graduate-school/language-games-poetry-logic-and-artificial-language

For more information visit: www.language-games.co.uk