Artificial Intelligence and the Materiality of the Body

We live in a society with highly advanced digital information technologies, such as the banking system, the stock market database, international flight control systems, retailing marketing databases, security systems, self-tracking tools, data assimilation in weather forecasting, medical data systems and digital art. Our everyday life is, thus, becoming almost impossible to accomplish without computers, numerous types of software, information technologies and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to ‘computer systems that simulate or exhibit a specific aspect of human intelligence or intelligent behavior, such as learning, reasoning, and problem solving’ (Chen, Decary 2020:10). Computer programmes with artificial intelligence are usually implemented via software. Softwares are generally designed to be invisible to users, and enable effortless and intuitive control. It is, therefore, generally considered that AI itself does not have a physical body. That said, I would like to emphasise the significance of the physical body in order to better understand the potential implications of the future AI society. This paper will focus on specific areas which facilitate the discussion of the significance of the materiality of the body: medical practices, artistic performances, and robotics. The paper concludes with a discussion of Simondon’s philosophy and his focus on the complex co-evolutionary relationship between the human and the machine in order to raise some questions about the future AI society.