Stepping Inside the Classification Cube: An Intimate Interaction with an AI System

Abstract

The Classification Cube art installation invites participants to become familiar with a machine-learning classification system. Inside a private space within the gallery, participants’ bodies are subjected to a classification process that detects their faces and estimates their age, gender, emotion and actions. Participants are also able to see how their own classification compares with how the installation classifies a series of animated figures. Rapidly changing results encourage participants to actively perform their behavior to the system and alter the way it “sees” them. The entanglement with the system raises awareness regarding the effectiveness of machine interpretation.