“Rekindling the Machine: Documentary in the Age of AI” was the topic for a panel at the CPH:Conference industry event of the 23rd edition of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, on Wednesday afternoon.
Moderated by artist and cultural strategist Kamal Sinclair, the panel brought together experts who focus on the dark sides of technology. The speakers included Marc Silver, director of the documentary Molly vs the Machines, which tells the story of a heartbroken father’s quest to uncover the truth behind his daughter’s “death-by-algorithm” and his battle against how some of the most powerful corporations of our age operate, and Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, Denmark’s tech ambassador, who spearheads Techplomacy, an initiative “elevating technology and digitalization to a cross-cutting foreign and security policy priority of the Danish government.”
Silver discussed Molly, a synopsis for which reads: “Molly was a perfectly ordinary 14-year-old English girl. One day, like any other, she came home from school, did her homework, said goodnight to her parents, and went to her room. A few hours later, she had taken her own life. No one saw it coming – except the algorithms in her phone.” Highlights the CPH:DOX website: “The emotional core of the film is Molly’s story, but with its broad intellectual and legal scope, the film also hits like a digital landmine at a time when the battle against Big Tech has never been more heated.”
Silver said about AI during Wednesday’s panel: “It has this god-like omniscience, while we know nothing about it.” He also highlighted modern technology’s “efficiency,” which meant that it “gave Molly what she wanted and pushed her towards her death.”
Meldgaard highlighted this as one of the various possible “unintended consequences” of AI, as well as other technologies. “We need to calibrate an understanding and have a risk discussion.”
She also highlighted how the development of AI relates to power imbalances in the world. “Ultimately, this is about military might,” she argued, pointing to “the geopolitical race” between the U.S. and China. And she warned: “We’re living in an age of predators.”
Meldgaard’s suggestion for an age of social media, podcasts and other digital offerings available all day and all night: “We got to find meaningful analogue alternatives.”
Meldgaard is featured in director Susanne Kovacs’ documentary Techplomacy, which was produced by Good Company Pictures and world premiered at CPH:DOX. “From freedom of speech to fake news and AI. In a largely unregulated digital world, a 33-year-old Danish woman is appointed tech ambassador with a global mandate,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Meldgaard is taking on the world’s most powerful tech companies – from Silicon Valley to the UN – and pushing for regulation, accountability, and digital rights. Denmark was the first country in the world to appoint a tech ambassador, and in that role, Meldgaard must navigate a minefield of interests.”
Wednesday’s panel also featured Anna Engelhardt, a video artist whose work gives “cinematic form to the afterlives of material violence,” and Julia Kloiber, co-founder of SUPERRR, a feminist organization focused on “advancing inclusive, equitable digital futures.”
“AI is not inevitable,” Kloiber offered as a takeaway, suggesting the world needs “alternative narratives.” Engelhardt echoed that, saying: ”
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