Gentleness is not a feeling but an enacted relation. It requires attention to another presence and responsiveness to what unfolds between them. In this sense, gentleness is inherently relational, only becoming perceptible through encounter.
As artificial intelligence enables machines to learn autonomously, their role within such encounters becomes increasingly active and ambiguous. As machines operate through algorithms and computational logic rather than subjective feeling, gentleness cannot be understood as a product of computation. Instead, it becomes a way of investigating how machines might participate in the emergence of gentleness.
To demand gentleness from such entities therefore is to consider how technology might create the conditions for care, attention, and emotional presence to emerge. We proposed three modes of presence: the machine as companion, mediator, and environment. Gentle Machines asks how technology might cultivate a more intentional form of presence that invites us to become more attentive to ourselves, to others, and to the encounter unfolding between us.
关切似乎只发生在人与人之间，它始于对另一方的觉察，并在彼此的回应中逐渐显现。因此温柔绝非程序运行的单项产物，它必须存在于关系之中。因此，我们所追问的并非机器是否真正理解情感，而是关怀、感知与回应是否会发生于人与机器相遇、互动的过程中。
探寻机器的温柔，本质上是在思考科技如何与人进行情感交流。无论是人与机器相遇，人与人借由机器相遇，还是人们在机器所构成的环境中相遇，这些都有可能牵动我们的情绪。
Gentle Machines 探讨科技如何让人与人、人与机器之间的相遇变得更真切， 即创造一个能让人身临其境的场域。
Submission Details
- Video and moving image
- Installation
- Sound and audio
- Interactive and digital media
- Research-based and experimental work
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Please email the following materials to media.zailab@gmail.com with the subject line Submission_LastName_FirstName.
- Selected Work (under 10mb under 20 pages under 300dpi)
- Work Description (up to 150 words per piece)
- Resume/CV
We encourage you to include sketches, drafts, or documentation of your creative process alongside your selected work, if you feel comfortable sharing them with us.