AI and the Paradox of Agency

The use of AI raises questions about who or what has agency. What does the shift of this decision-making power away from the individual mean for artists as well as for society, the planet, and the future of humanity?

This publication is based around conversations between the curator and editor Sarah Cook and the artists of the exhibition AI and the Paradox of Agency at Bildmuseet, Umeå University in 2026-27: 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.

The book documents their work alongside essays from Sarah Cook, art critic Charlotte Kent, and philosopher Alasdair Milne which consider the role of agents and definitions of agency following philosophies of technology, the history of cybernetics, and the varied practices of artists exploring our capacity to act with and against the logic of AI systems.

Sarah Cook is a professor in Information Studies at the University of Glasgow and WASP-HS guest professor in Art and AI at Umeå University, with a foundation in philosophy of technology. She is a curator of exhibitions on art, technology and science, and author of texts about media art and curatorial practice.