Dark Matters

What does bias sound like?

Johann Diedrick

Dark Matters exposes the absence of Black speech in the datasets used to train voice interface systems in consumer AI products like Alexa and Siri. Using 3D modeling, sound and storytelling, the project challenges us to grapple with racism and inequity through speech and the spoken word, and how AI systems underserve yet oversurveill Black communities. 

This is a digital-first experience that puts you in the position of a machine learning researcher exploring the absence of Black voices in the datasets.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Johann Diedrick is an artist, engineer, and musician that makes installations, performances, and sculptures for encountering the world through our ears. He surfaces vibratory histories of past interactions inscribed in material and embedded in space, peeling back sonic layers to reveal hidden memories and untold stories. He shares his tools and techniques through listening tours, workshops, and open-source hardware/software. He is the founder of A Quiet Life, a sonic engineering and research studio that designs and builds audio-related software and hardware products for revealing possibilities off the grid through sonic encounter. He is a 2021 Mozilla Creative Media Award recipient, a member of NEW INC, and an adjunct professor at NYU's ITP program. His work has been featured in Wire Magazine, Musicworks Magazine, and presented internationally at MoMA PS1, Ars Electronica, and the Somerset House, among others.