The sounding of and listening to voices is increasingly mediated by artificially intelligent machine listening and conversational systems (such as Amazon's Alexa). These systems profile voices to surveil, analyse and understand people in ways which are normative, over-simplistic and ultimately harmful to those who are marginalised within society. In this event, Amina Abbas-Nazari will present their PhD research that investigates these issues and propose ways to reveal and resist voice profiling in and by AI, through an expanded understanding of the sounding of voice.

Amina Abbas-Nazari is a practicing designer, researcher, and vocal performer. She has researched the voice in conjunction with emerging technology since 2008 and is now completing a PhD in the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art, investigating the sound and sounding of voices in artificially intelligent conversational systems.  She has presented her work at the London Design Festival, Design Museum, Barbican Centre, V&A, Lisson Gallery, Milan Furniture Fair, Venice Architecture Biennial, Critical Media Lab, Switzerland, Litost Gallery, Prague and Harvard University, America. She has performed internationally with choirs and regularly collaborates with artists as an experimental vocalist. 

This talk is part of "Other Minds", a season of work exploring different kinds of intelligence: animal, mechanical, collective. Throughout September Watershed is sharing projects that ask what it means to work with minds that are utterly unlike our own, and how "AI" can be part of a wider conversation about intelligence, labour, and creativity. 

Join us online on YouTube Live, or in the building on Friday 27th September 2024 at 1pm for the talk and to take part in the Q and A discussion afterwards. 

The Pervasive Media Studio is a partnership between the Watershed, University of the West of England and University of Bristol. The lunchtime talks are partly supported by MyWorld, a project led by the University of Bristol to support creative industries in the region. Watershed is supported by Arts Council England.

Address:
Watershed, 1 Canon's Rd, Bristol BS1 5TX

Directions:
The Lunchtime talks take place in the Pervasive Media Studio Event Space. To access the Studio, please go to the Main Watershed Box Office entrance and go upstairs to the Café Bar. Walk across the cafe bar, turn right and walk towards the double doors. Go through into the corridor and walk all the way down until you reach the Studio. A member of staff will sign you in, and check your ticket, if you have booked.

The Studio is wheelchair accessible, and the events space has a hearing loop. The last talk of every month is BSL interpreted. 

For more information on accessing the studio take a look here.

*Please note this is a hybrid event and will be live streamed so please be aware you will be in the live broadcast and recording when watching in the Studio.