ZENZ(A)I
Anna Pasco Bolta
Weather sayings typify how for generations we have been looking for models to understand how nature works in order to predict the future. These predictions are partly based on probability theories, but also on imagination; they allow us to question realities, to see them and to recognise them. Weather sayings also represent a linguistic infrastructure: the cultural heritage of a changing landscape, as well as illustrating the mechanisms we develop to gain a sense of control over future uncertainties. Additionally, time sayings are directly linked to the point of view of the observer. ZENZ(A)I is an artificial intelligence that creates new weather sayings based on current weather data, existing sayings and sentiment analysis of current tweets. These new sayings, created by artificial intelligence, aim to interpret current weather and also predict future weather conditions. Artificial intelligence therefore confronts principles such as failure, wandering and discovery to approach the creative capacity from which humans derive their creativity. The creation of artificial intelligences makes us rethink what it means to be human and also allows us to challenge the anthropocentric vision, in which the human species is above other species and believes itself to be exceptional. In this way, the human perception of reality is understood as one possible vision among many others, thus distancing us from making value judgements about which vision is better. The project suggests that we view ourselves as something already connected, as part of a system or a network. The work is presented as a speculative model, a rich poetic device that gives us an idea of what is possible, as it expands and reformulates the limits of knowledge. A weather saying can be requested from ZENZ(A)I through the website www.zenz-ai.net. Once the current location has been entered, it will display the weather of the selected city and list the different Twitter messages that the AI has analysed, followed by the categorisation of the sentiments extracted from this analysis. The new weather saying appears a few seconds after pressing the option to create one, and it can be printed, saved, purchased or shared on social networks. One can subsequently rate the created saying to give feedback to the artificial intelligence and thus contribute to the evolution of its experience. Regardless of the rating, the website includes all the sayings created by ZENZ(A)I in the archive section.
