A fascinating community of scholars, thinkers, and creators working at the intersection of technology, automation, and futures emerged in Central and Eastern Europe after the Second World War. On the one hand, there were those studying technology as a means of streamlining production and automation in a centralised economy, as well as enhancing citizen surveillance. On the other, there were the dissenting voices that relied on fictional accounts of technological futures to criticise the authoritarian regimes.

The final workshop on AI Narratives in Central and Eastern Europe will take place on 7 May, 2021 and focus on the histories of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and cybernetics in the Communist Bloc, with an emphasis on Czechoslovakia and Poland.

The online workshop consists of an expert panel on AI and Communism followed by a roundtable discussion. The organisers of the “Global AI Narratives: Central and Eastern Europe” programme will be joined by several speakers from the previous workshops to debate what historical visions of AI in the region can tell us about the perceptions of new technologies in Central and Eastern Europe today. 

27/04/2021 Update: We regret to inform you of the passing of Ivan Havel, a legendary Czech cyberneticist and AI pioneer, who was meant to speak at our event next week. You can still read Prof Havel’s abstract here.

Date: 7 May, 2021

Program:

All times indicated are in Central European Summer Time (GMT + 2)

Start: 11:00 AM

11:00-11:10: Opening remarks

Kanta Dihal (CFI, University of Cambridge)

Vít Střítecký (Periculum, Charles University)

11:10 - 12:30 Panel: AI and Communism

Chaired by Filip Vostal (Charles University and Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

11:10 - Ivan Havel: IN MEMORIAM (You can still read Prof Havel’s abstract here.)

11:15 - Lukáš Likavčan (FAMU Prague): “Intelligence and emancipation: Six decades of cybernetic communism in Czechoslovakia”

11:35 - Bogna Konior (NYU Shanghai): “Automatic Gnosis: On Stanislaw Lem's Summa Technologiae”

11:55 - Jędrzej Niklas (Data Justice Lab at Cardiff University): “Rearticulating the State through Data-driven Technologies: The case of National Information System in the 1970s Poland”

12:15 - Q&A 

12:30 - 1:00 - Break 

1:00 - 2:00 - Roundtable: Global AI Narratives: Central and Eastern Europe

Chaired by Filip Vostal (Charles University and Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

Participants:

Ada Ackerman and Emily Bilski (Jewish Imaginaries of AI workshop);

Libuše Heczková (Eastern European Science Fiction workshop);

Bogna Konior (AI and Communism workshop);

Anzhelika Solovyeva and Vít Střítecký (Periculum, Charles University);

Kanta Dihal and Tomasz Hollanek (Global AI Narratives Project, CFI, University of Cambridge)

Finish: 2:00 PM (CET)

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