Co-evolution.
A Living Experiment in Human–AI Dialogue
The Opening Ceremony of the 42nd EGOS Colloquium will feature the live performance “Co-evolution: A Living Experiment in Human–AI Dialogue”, with Telmo Pievani, one of Italy’s leading philosophers of science and evolutionary biologists, and a prominent public voice
in debates on science, technology, evolution, and the human condition.
In this live “living experiment”, Telmo Pievani, holder of the first Italian Chair in Philosophy of Biological Sciences at the University of Padua, will engage in dialogue
with a generative artificial intelligence. The exchange will unfold in real time, without a script and without a predetermined
outcome. Rather than following a pre-established conversational path, the AI will respond dynamically to the evolving content
of Pievani’s reflections, through prompts entered live by the digital artist Simone Rovaris, who will act as a mediator between human thought and machine response. The result will be an open-ended encounter in which
neither the human speaker nor the AI knows in advance where the dialogue will lead.
Conceived as a genuine experiment rather than a staged demonstration, this performative exchange explores the possibilities
and limits of the relationship between humans, environments, and machines. It raises questions of authorship, agency, knowledge,
and co-evolution in an age of artificial intelligence: themes that resonate closely with the intellectual concerns at the
heart of the Colloquium. Reflecting the Colloquium's commitment to sustainability, the performance runs entirely on remotely
accessed open-source AI systems.
The event is organized in collaboration with Fondazione BergamoScienza, a foundation devoted to science communication and promoter of the internationally renowned BergamoScienza Festival, known for its commitment to cultural independence and scientific rigour; and with Lab 80 film, a cooperative founded in Bergamo in 1976 and active in film and media events, distribution, and production.
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