In her diploma thesis "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT M(AI)?" at the University of Applied Arts Vienna supervised by Univ.-Prof. Mag.art. Dr.phil. Margarete Jahrmann, Catherine Spet focused on creating a ludic intervention on the commodification of the self and the gamification of intimacy in human-AI relationships.
The Diploma work uses the ludic method as an artistic tool for critical inquiry in the context of the rise of romantic AI companions, datafication and the capitalist commodification and exploitation of the vulnerable self of the user which may lead to “violence on all levels”, addressing a spectrum of potential harms, such as inappropriate behavior, data risks and emotional harm. The digital encounter with an AI companion not only marks a shift in interpersonal closeness, but also a fundamental restructuring of power relations: Who controls whom – the player the AI or the AI the player`s desire? The body of the artist becomes a playground of inquiry, where players can interact, explore and potentially hurt or be hurt. As Donna Haraway famously pointed out in her work “A Cyborg Manifesto” (1985): “We can be responsible for machines; they do not dominate or threaten us. We are responsible for boundaries; we are they”.
Catherine Spet finished her studies at FH St. Pölten with a Master's Thesis on the topic "The Possibilities of Dialogue with Artificial Intelligence" .
The master thesis is dedicated to the topic "Dialogue with Artificial Intelligence". Since artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms have now reached the general public and AI is used and researched in numerous areas, the thesis will address the question of how we humans can benefit from a collaboration with an AI. Following the release and integration of "Language Models", such as OpenAI's most comprehensive GPT-3 model to date, questions such as these are becoming increasingly relevant in everyday social, linguistic life.
How can AI help approach concepts like "knowledge" and "wisdom"? What contribution can art make to uncover and critically situate precisely these problematics in our society? These questions will be explored in the work primarily based on literature on a media-theoretical, linguistic-philosophical and artistic level.
In October 2023 she presented her research on the topic "Technology as Pharmakon. Using the example of language-based Healthcare Apps like Replika AI" at the annual meeting of the Society for History of Technology (SHOT) at University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
The paper aims to draw attention to the ambivalence of health care apps and relate them to the notion of technology as a pharmakon, acting both as a cure and as a poison. The research subject is the controversial app "Replika", which is an AI-based chatbot designed to serve as a therapy substitute while also taking on the role of a companion.