ARTificial Intelligence is a collaboration between MIT Libraries and the Cambridge Public Library led by MIT Associate Professor of Literature Stephanie Frampton. The multifaceted ongoing program fosters public dialogue about the emerging ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence (AI) through art and design.
In November 2018, ARTificial Intelligence and the Cambridge Public Library present an installation of MIT PhD candidate Jonny Sun’s new interactive media piece, The Laughing Room, with a companion installation, The Control Room, hosted in parallel at the MIT Hayden Library.
The Laughing Room is an artificially intelligent room and interactive art installation at the Cambridge Public Library that plays a laugh track whenever the participants say something that the room’s algorithm deems to be funny. The installation looks like a TV sitcom set, but the room is equipped with a system of microphones and speakers connected to a machine learning algorithm created using a large dataset of audio transcripts of stand up comedians. The algorithm determines the vocal inflections and patterns that precede laughter and then reacts to the voices of the participants from the general public who “perform” to the room.
"The Laughing Room" and "The Control Room" were funded by the metaLAB (at) Harvard, the MIT De Florez Fund for Humor, the Council of the Arts at MIT, and the MIT Center For Art, Science and Technology and presented in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library and the MIT Libraries.
Learn more about The Laughing Room: arts.mit.edu/laughing-room
Upcoming Events:
The Laughing Room On Display: May 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 2, 2019 Wiesner Student Art Gallery, MIT Building W20
