CAPTCHA-CAPTCHA
Full HD, color, 2.1 channels, 12’34”, 2018

Video work installation CAPTCHA-CAPTCHA is created using the verification code (CAPTCHA), a mechanism for distinguishing computers from human beings, to connect with calculations which are omnipresent as a source of assistance in our everyday life. Features such as graphic recognition, suggested spelling, auto-replies, and voice assistants, have started to interfere with human thought in the name of assistance. The video depicts a machine that is capable of human-like writing and expression and uses the words that the machine produces as the basis for interaction, exploring the mind and consciousness of human beings and artificial intelligence.

Throughout the video, the narration and subtitles continuously question and repeatedly verify through reading and writing. How does the voice read the written content, and how does the written content write down what it hears? Which is artificial intelligence, and which is human? Do human beings have the capacity of mind and free will? Are human choices really chosen by human beings? Is the human mind essential for creative thinking? If artificial intelligence reaches judgment and decisions after a series of complex calculations, are human judgment merely a result of calculations resulting from the coding of our genes? The artist uses these questions to contemplate issues such as human existence and contemporary life, the natural and artificial, reality and virtual reality, time, memory, and sensory experiences.

CAPTCHA-CAPTCHA (excerpt) from Wu Chi-Yu on Vimeo.