Many sources predict that in the future, humans and autonomous machines (AIs) will collaborate in networks as complementary equals. Is that a U-, Eu-, or Dys-topia?
The Society for Nontrivial Pursuits (S4NTP) has been developing models of such networks where humans and machines share agency: All nodes can make decisions, which will influence the overall evolution of a shared set of processes. Single-authorship disappears, and it becomes tricky even for participants to understand who is responsible for which aspect of the unfolding audiovisual experience.
UTopologies is such a network consisting of several embodied nodes, each with an individually shaped body, microcomputer and amplification, and open to local influences such as sound and light, and the presence of humans. They can generate behavioral patterns autonomously or in combined human/machine networks by communicating their internal states to each other, thus negotiating and coordinating shared or conflicting acoustic and visual behavior. The network is open to human live coding: Patterns merge, contrast or clash with those already circulating, thus blurring the lines between ›concert‹ and ›installation.‹

Bio: THE SOCIETY FOR NONTRIVIAL PURSUITS (S4NTP) is formed by Alberto de Campo, Hannes Hoelzl, alumni & students & friends of the class Computational Art at UdK Berlin