백남준의 로봇, AI와 만나다…“오늘의 기계는 매끄럽게 말해”

On the 25th, visitors to the National Asian Culture Center Complex Exhibition Room 4 experienced humanoid robots tethered together with their bodies stretched out. When asked "Who are you?" by a visitor, the robot responded with "AI" ("에이아이"). In response to the question "Are you happy?", the robot remarked, "I don't know if 'happiness' applies to me, but this moment of being together is not bad."

Next to this robot stood another, crudely made from aluminum rods. This robot moved not by moving itself but through a person remotely controlling it via a wireless remote. Video footage of this robot weaving through crowds in busy streets was being screened. These robots were the creations of founder Kang Baek-nam (1932-2006), 'K-456' produced 60 years ago and 'Nerva Artifisha' recently made by author Jung Ya (51).

The National Asian Culture Center announced on the 23rd that it would host the art-technology festival 'ACT Festival' from the 23rd to the 8th of the following month, showcasing 10 countries and 29 teams (authors) of mixed works. This event provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress of technology and what it means to be human through Kang Baek-nam's 'K-456' and modern AI robots.

Kang Baek-nam's 'K-456', created in 1964, performed a live speech by Kennedy on its wireless speaker while walking the streets of New York and even performed a performance of crossing the road and defecating like a pig. The 'Nerva Artifisha' work on the 1982 crossing of a pedestrian crossing resulted in a performance of being hit by a car.

The term 'Nerva Artifisha' means 'artificial brain,' and this work causes visitors to respond with spontaneous and sometimes nonsensical answers when asked questions, making it difficult to distinguish between genuine dialogue and scripted responses. The center explained that while a 60-year-old machine revealed its body through its movements, today's machines appear too smooth and difficult to identify as machines.

The exhibition also featured a virtual reality work to mourn the victims of the 5.18 Democratic Uprising, 'Trace: Grief Processor, Gwangju,' created by Canadian artist Valli Pukulang who spent two weeks in Gwangju interviewing members of the Owolomeon group and researching history to create her work. Visitors wearing virtual reality devices wandered through a virtual forest and hillside, experiencing grief and sadness, ultimately leading to healing and unity.

In addition to this, a performance art combining theater and virtual reality (VR), 'Blur,' and an artificial intelligence video that appears to be performed by a real person, 'Hello Chunghwa', were also on display.