Ai Weiwei Launches Global AI Q&A Project 'Ai vs AI'

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has launched 'Ai vs AI', a global public art project posing 81 questions to artificial intelligence. The questions, inspired by the ancient Chinese poem '172 Questions to Heaven' by Qu Yuan, will be displayed on public screens in London, Seoul, Milan, Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Abidjan, and Berlin from January 11 to March 31, 2025, daily at 20:24 local time. The 81-day duration mirrors the 81 days Ai Weiwei was imprisoned in China in 2011 on tax evasion charges, widely seen as politically motivated. The project is promoted by CIRCA and includes political, existential, and surreal queries such as 'Who owns whom in democratic societies?' and 'Do humans crave death?'. Ai Weiwei stated the work is about 'the freedom to ask questions' rather than freedom of expression. The questions are accompanied by an animation of a dragon, referencing the upcoming Year of the Green Wood Dragon starting February 9, which according to tradition brings unpredictable transformations.