DemoDays | October 2022: Meet us in Paris!

Sep 15, 2022 | Events, News, Stories

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This year the Demo Days will take place in Paris on October 10 and 11. During two days the artists and startups supported by MediaFutures will present their solutions to help tackle misinformation. After 6 months of acceleration and residency, they will have 15 minutes to showcase the results of their research. To back up their words, misinformation and media experts will provide insights through keynotes.

After a first online event due to the pandemic in September 2021, we are more than happy to organise a physical event, and of course offer a hybrid experience both in presence and online! This event will be hosted at IRCAM-Centre Pompidou at the heart of Paris.

Exhibition of the supported project: ‘Critical Climate Machine’

In addition to the conferences, the artist Gaëtan Robillard, supported by MediaFutures in 2021, will exhibit his installation ‘Critical Climate Machine’ in Studio 3. This data sculpture and sound installation quantifies and reveals the mechanisms of misinformation on global warming. 

CLICK HERE to discover more about the project!

© Gaëtan Robillard

© Gaëtan Robillard

Detailed programme of the two days

Monday, October the 10th 

Salle Stravinsky

2:00 – 2:15pm – Introduction by Hugues Vinet (Director, Innovation and Research Means, IRCAM) and Gaëtan Robillard (artist)
2:15pm – 2:45pm – Keynote by Elena Simperl (Professor of Computer Science at King’s College London): “Data commons and their role in fighting misinformation”

Abstract: She will talk about the datasets that many digital tools used to fight misinformation rely on. Many would agree that the better the data, the more effective the technology will be in spotting patterns and making predictions. When understanding how good the data is or how to improve it, it’s important to consider the socio-technical context in which it came about. If we talk about AI datasets, they often involve large, diverse groups of people, who contribute in many different ways. She will present examples that illustrate how the social construction of data matters to our ability to use AI effectively in fighting misinformation.

2:45 – 3:45pm – Presentation of the projects – Artists for Media
3:45 – 4:00pm – Break
4:00 – 4:40pm – Presentation of the projects – Artists for Media 
4:40 – 5:00pm – Break
5:00 –5:30pm – Keynote by Marta Handenawer (artist): How to fight against misinformation thanks to citizen engagement?
5:30 – 6:00 – Keynote by Hannah Redler Hawes (Open Data Institute): “The Real Thing: Artists working with truth, fiction dis- and misinformation”

Abstract: The emergence of mass communications technologies and the digital revolution have profoundly changed the way we experience both our consensual and personal realities, as well as how we construct and present our personal identities. How we exchange information and build trust or understand how to untangle genuine news stories from fake news has become a modern dilemma. This presentation will be a whistle-stop tour through a small number of modern and contemporary artworks which address these themes leading to the field which Media Futures has established itself as a major actor in, that of art and disinformation.

Studio 3 

2:00 – 6:00pm – Exhibition Critical Climate Machine by Gaëtan Robillard

Tuesday, October the 11th 

2:00 – 2:15pm – Introduction by Hugues Vinet (Director, Innovation and Research Means, IRCAM) and Gaëtan Robillard (artist)
2:15 – 3:45pm – Presentation of the projects – Startup meets Artist
  • MUMIDIS – Museum of misinformation and disinformation by uTrigg (startup) and Samuel Van Ransbeeck (artist)
  • The Oracle Network by Techwave (startup) and White Hog Design (artists)
  • Time Lapse Migration by La Tempesta (startup) and Varvara&Mar (artists)
  • DOPPELGÄNGER by KASPAR (startup) and Michael Madsen (artist)
3:45 – 4:00pm – Break
4:00 – 4:25pm – Keynote – JECT-SENSE – successful story of an art, technology and business collaboration
4:25 – 4:50pm – Keynote by Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti: Soft Evidence: Synthetic cinema as contemporary art
4:50 – 5:00pm – Break
5:00 – 6:00pm – Presentation of the projects – Startups for Citizens
6:00 – 6:45pm – Keynote by Gianni Riotta (LUISS DataLab): Trust in news media and the challenges of misinformation in Europe

Abstract: The fake news and disinformation epidemic has been, so far, intractable to all countermeasures. Technical tools and political strategies deployed against the disruption of our civic conversations – debunking, AI, sources evaluation, social media platforms’ self-checking, code of conducts, governments ad hoc rules, quality journalism boosting- while useful, have not stemmed the growing menace of tainted information.Fake news is indeed the symptom, not the real disease we are suffering. They fester in the moral immunodeficiency induced by the lack of trust in authorities, political, academic, scientific, and religious and the nihilism crippling the sphere of our public opinion. We now enjoy the most powerful library of knowledge and information in the history of humanity, yet millions of individuals shut themselves out in the dimension of weaponized lies. It is impossible for a central government to label Truth and False, without infringing on freedom of the press, only totalitarian states can display that kind of behavior. In a democratic, open society even the most sophisticated team of debunkers, or Avant-guard AI set of algorithms, will not distinguish between a legitimate, albeit radical, op-ed column and a blatant piece of fake news.

6:45 – 7:00pm – Award Ceremony for the Best Artist, Best Startup and Best Collaborative Project 2022
7:00pm – Cocktail

Studio 3 

2:00 – 6:00pm – Exhibition Critical Climate Machine by Gaëtan Robillard
Registrations are open if you will attend the event in Paris!
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The event will also be streamed live on YouTube.