Creative commons in the time of AI slop? A creative future-thinking workshop | Democratic Digital Commons × Rare Effect

Democratic Digital Commons (DDC) is an assembly and artistic research series taking place across Europe and online, bringing democracy into digital spaces through education, deliberation, imagination and advocacy.

As AI and new digital technologies take an increasingly prominent role in our lives – shaping everything from our social spaces to decision-making processes – their workings often remain opaque, embed systemic biases and concentrate power in the hands of a few, and citizens are rarely given the tools or opportunities to meaningfully shape how these technologies are developed and governed.

We want to change that. Through 10 assemblies this year, DDC has centred citizens’ voices in imagining alternative technological futures and shaping how AI should be governed. Now, in Lisbon, we’re joining the Rare Effect community to explore what these futures could look like for art and culture. 

// Future-thinking exercise: What does creative commons mean in a time of AI?
“decolonizing data is first and foremost an exercise in creativity and imagination” – Ulises A. Mejias

What if we stopped accepting AI as a tool of tech oligarch extraction, and started imagining what we could build together? What would an AI look like if it were designed and governed with principles of the creative commons? How can artists be involved in AI governance, and what kinds of creative worlds could it help make possible?

After a short introduction to the DDC series, we’ll put our collective imaginative powers to work through a speculative design exercise, exploring questions of ownership, cultural commons, collective infrastructure and creative autonomy. Together, we’ll develop the values and principles that should guide these alternative futures, turning our ideas into contributions to DDC’s ongoing Citizens’ Charter for a Democratic AI.

Join us to imagine, design and claim a different technological future for art and culture!

REGISTER HERE