The techQualia Gallery Bridges the Gap Between Artists & AI Research

Artificial intelligence is already part of our everyday lives. It may not come with an evil cyborg uprising or a robotic best friend , but it’s there, having seeped into our everyday lives and every kind of industry to make things a little bit more efficient, a little bit more intelligent, and sometimes just a little bit more intrusive. With AI research and knowledge becoming so inaccessible and detached from our direct experiences, a team of Egyptian researchers and artists are looking to address the troubling social implications for how it affects our lives.   

As one of the first AI research entities in the MENA region, techQualia is part of Synapse Analytics, an Egyptian AI and data science company. “techQualia started in a moment of absolute frustration at the lack of interdisciplinary AI research, especially in the region, and we wanted to fill this knowledge gap,” Aliah Yacoub, AI philosopher and head of techQualia, tells CairoScene.

Looking to bring the conversation around AI beyond academia, the techQualia Gallery is gathering artists and researchers together at Sultana Malak Palace in Heliopolis, from December 15th to December 17th. Formerly known as the Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace, the building was recently restored and renovated by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology as a hub for industry, entrepreneurship and creativity.

“The gallery creates a more interdisciplinary space,” Farah Ghazal, AI social scientist at techQualia, tells CairoScene. “AI research is isolated in separate fields, and perceived as purely technical, yet it impacts and is impacted by many disciplines. Collaborating with artists through the techQualia Gallery illustrates that.”

Through live AI-generated audio-visual installations, code-generated music using live Cairene traffic soundscapes, interpretations of Islamic civilization 3D printed pieces - produced by Plug and Play who are also the gallery's main partner - generative prints, paintings, and AI-enabled performance pieces, the exhibition over three days will immerse visitors into the possibilities of AI art.

“Everyone is talking about AI but it’s either in a state of panic about its possible disastrous social impact or in business contexts solely addressing statistics and skyrocketing revenues,” Ghazal adds. “So techQualia attempts to produce knowledge addressing both extremes and contextualizing AI.” 

The gallery will also feature a slew of panelists engaging with the artworks and AI implications, with leading startup innovators to academics, artists, and gaming extraordinaires discussing the field from their own unique perspectives. With regional artists’ bold experimentation brought to the spotlight, the techQualia Gallery will showcase the practical applications of AI art, as a new realm for artists while paying tribute to the work of regional contemporary artists over the past decade.