Generating Synthetic Autonomy

Pararealistic Explorations and Implications of Ian Cheng's BOB (Bag of Beliefs)

Abstract

Ian Cheng’s BOB (Bag of Beliefs) (2018–19) is a unique combination of contemporary digital media—an animated, AI-driven live simulation. It focuses on the activities of the artificial lifeform named, BOB, a mutable, snake-like entity generated and driven by a basic motivational and behavioral AI system and an inductive sensory learning engine of viewer inputs via an interactive app, BOB Shrine. This study considers the artwork’s deployment of digital media and strategies that likewise underpin our contemporary existence in the real world. By examining BOB (Bag of Beliefs) through the pararealistic—an analytical framework that engenders new insights into reality—this essay considers how BOB, as an artificial lifeform, has significant import for our humanity, undermining individual autonomy and modulating systems of beliefs. This study ultimately contends that individual autonomy has shifted to a “synthetic autonomy,” a term introduced here to designate a neohuman autonomy that has emerged in the wake of advanced AI.