Ford Foundation Gallery exhibition critiques algorithmic bias through feminist and decolonial AI artworks

The exhibition 'What Models Make Worlds' at Ford Foundation Gallery in New York examines algorithmic bias through socially engaged artworks. Previously titled 'Encoding Futures', the show originated at Oxy Arts in Los Angeles in 2021. Mimi Ọnụọha's 'Library of Missing Datasets, Version 1.0' (2016) visualizes data gaps with empty folders addressing overlooked subjects like domestic labor and surveillance. Caroline Sinders invites visitors to contribute to her ongoing 'Feminist Data Set' project through submission forms. Stephanie Dinkins presents 'Not the Only One (N'TOO), Avatar, VI' (2023), an AI system built from oral histories of three generations of Black women in her family, alongside documentation of her interactions with social robot Bina48. Lauren McCarthy's 'LAUREN' (2017–ongoing) explores domestic surveillance through a human-operated smart home assistant. Astria Suparak's 'Sympathetic White Robots (White Robot Tears version)' (2021/2023) critiques racial representation in sci-fi cinema as part of her research project 'Asian futures, without Asians'. Aroussiak Gabrielian's 'Botanic Attunement' (2023) features plants growing through scientific texts, challenging human-centric knowledge systems. The exhibition runs through December 9, featuring works that imagine technologies encoded with feminist, antiracist, decolonial, and anticapitalist perspectives.