AI and the Paradox of Agency

boredomresearch, Tega Brain, Dennis Delgado, Linda Dounia Rebeiz, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Nicolas Gourault, Zeno Gries, Lawrence Lek, Rachel Maclean, Stephen Marche, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Florian Model, Yuri Pattison, Planetary Portals, Raqs Media Collective, Daniel Shanken, Caroline Sinders & Romy Gad el Rab, Paola Torres Núñez del Prado, and Addie Wagenknecht.

Who holds the power when AI enters our lives? Do you feel that the more you think you’re in charge of your life and work, the more it seems like smart technology is making choices for you? This is the paradox explored in the 19 works of art in the exhibition AI and the Paradox of Agency. Featuring a number of new commissions from an international group of artists, the exhibition showcases the results of artists' research in relation to the question of who or what has agency when it comes to humanity’s entanglement with artificial intelligence systems.
 
The ethics of AI development are complex, as can be seen in its use of stolen data and its environmental footprint. The hope that artificial intelligence—systems that reason and automate actions—might solve our problems has revealed the paradox of our own agency: our power to make decisions and to act. AI and the Paradox of Agency aims to offer new perspectives on the complex struggle for balance between the needs of society, nature and technology, now and in the future.  
 
This exhibition borrows its title from The AI Paradox: How to Make Sense of a Complex Future (Princeton University Press, 2026) by Virginia Dignum, Professor of Responsible AI at Umeå University. In her book, Dignum highlights that to navigate the human aspects of the rapid technological change, we need to understand the broader societal, ethical, and philosophical implications of AI. The exhibition AI and the Paradox of Agency is part of a research project at Umeå University into art and AI. A publication accompanying the exhibition will be released during 2026.  
 
Curators: Sarah Cook, UmArts Guest Professor (WASP-HS) at Umeå School of Architecture and Professor at the University of Glasgow, and Katarina Pierre, Director at Bildmuseet.  
 
AI and the Paradox of Agency is produced by Bildmuseet at Umeå University with support from the Jacob Wallenberg Foundation and WASP-HS (Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program—Humanity and Society). With thanks to UmArts, Curiosum, Umeå Academy of Fine Arts, Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå Institute of Design and TAIGA at Umeå University, the University of Glasgow and the Fleck Fellowship programme at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.