Preservation in a Time of Precarity: Intersecting Indigenous Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence

Co-convened by Pratt’s Historic Preservation Program and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, this event brings world-leading professionals and scholars together to explore the role of AI in cultural and historic preservation in the face of precarity.

Traversing tangible and intangible heritage, each speaker will share exemplary responses to the destruction or loss of peoples, cultures and places and the role that AI can play in this context – while mindful of its biases as much as its benefits. Featuring two panel discussions, followed by a closing plenary with members of Forensic Architecture. Sponsored by The Ornamental Metal Institute and the Steel Institute of NY.

Moreover, and, as the title implies, this symposium invites a deeper questioning of why AI is heralded as the world’s preeminent technology, whereas indigenous Intelligence, is often overlooked or remains on the margins rather than recognized as equally important. Whether the threat manifests as military conflict, contamination, social injustice, or climate change, this symposium invites us to radically reimagine what should be preserved, why it should be preserved, how it should be preserved – and by and for whom.

Speakers include:
Lisa Ackerman, Columbus Citizens Foundation
Dr. Ahmed Elgammal, Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Rutgers University
Nalikutaar, Jacqueline Cleveland, Alaska Venture Fund
Dr. Harriet Harriss, Pratt School of Architecture
Jeffrey Hogrefe, Pratt School of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Alex Jimmerson, Seneca Nation of Indians
Dr. Robbie Jimmerson, Seneca Nation of Indians and Rochester Institute of Technology
Cequyna Moore, Monuments Toolkit Initiative of World Heritage U.S.A.
Dr. Chuutsqa L. Rorick, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective and University of Victoria
Dr. Helio Takai, National Science Foundation and Pratt School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Vicki Weiner, Pratt School of Architecture
Dr. Lorna Williams, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective
K. Kennedy Whiters AIA, (un)Redact the Facts and Black in Historic Preservation.

Keynote and Closing Plenary: Nour Abuzaid and Eyal Weizman, Forensic Architecture

Event image credit: Forensic Architecture / Forensis. Guided by ‘inherited’ oral testimonies, the settlement of ||Nâ ‡ gâs (Hornkranz) is reconstructed house by house using Unreal Engine.

This event is open to the public.