Tree Story

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We’re back on April 9th at OBA Staatsliedenbuurt for an evening of fantastic ideas and great conversation where art, AI and the urban environment meet.

First up, Roni Bulent Ozel, the founder and director of Amsterdam-based R&D collective Lucidminds AI, will be talking with us about AI systems, their ethical implications and how to build them with purpose. Guided by a “from theory to practice” mindset, Bulent will share the story of gAIa, a newly launched map of living trees that combines AI modelling and simulations to explore how trees may grow under differing climate & care strategies and then goes further by introducing a more-than-human lens to urban design & planning and asks the question: what changes when we consider the needs and rights of other life forms who share this landscape with us?

Using gAIa as a starting point, Bulent will consider the much broader implications of AI and the goal of building advanced systems that do more than simply provide passive information but positively enhance our lives, acting as companions that encourage us in active learning.

Then, artist Sujata Majumdar will explore her most recent work, Ground Truth - a view from somewhere which blends social and artistic research to investigate trees, urban landscapes and public participation. With an interest in the discrepancies found in the gaps between data and real-world experience, Sujata worked closely with Lucidminds to consider new ways of describing trees in a local Amsterdam square. By comparing the AI-generated “digital twin” of these trees to the personal, story-filled perspectives of the people who live alongside them, Sujata introduced social context to the data view, showing the important role these trees play, one that goes far beyond their basic service to the local ecosystem.

Reflecting upon the different ways she engaged the community with their trees, Sujata will show how building an ongoing dialogue at the intersection of urban ecology and digital literacy deepens our understanding of an urban landscape’s ground truth and our own place within it.

What makes Tickbird&Rhino evenings such a good time is never quite knowing where the evening is going to go until the conversation begins. So grab a seat and come along to join in. It’s bound to offer to some fantastic, thought-provoking fun.

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Roni Bulent Ozel is a double PhD AI expert based in Amsterdam, NL. He is a co-founder of Lucidminds AI, an initiative focused on human- and nature-centric complex system design & analysis impacting social, economic, and environmental domains. He has worked with a diverse range of institutional solution partners, including EIT Climate-KIC, the Municipality of Amsterdam, Dark Matter Labs, as well as universities such as TU Delft, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Bielefeld.

Bulent has also held various academic positions including tenure-track faculty at Istanbul Bilgi University, postdoctoral researcher and research scientist roles at the University of Zurich, IMT Lucca Institute for Advanced Studies, and the University of Reykjavik, and a Fulbright Researcher position at Carnegie Mellon University at the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems.

LinkedIn: Roni Bulent Ozel

Website: lucidminds.ai

Based in Amsterdam since 2001, Sujata Majumdar has a background in photography, physics & information technology. A blend of disciplines and cultures drives her artistically, pushing her to explore the intersections between apparently unrelated ideas and matter. She has a fascination for patterns that transcend scale, especially at the shifting interface of ‘nature’ and ‘human-made’. Her photographic style is influenced by scientific two-dimensional representation such as physics diagrams and microscopy slides, forming the basis of deeper interdisciplinary exploration and artistic research; in 2018-19 she was Crossing Parallels (TU Delft & TodaysArt) artist in residence. She is Head of Pattern Formation at the Institute of Unnecessary Research and is currently completing a Master of Arts by Research (MARes) in Hybrid Arts at Ionian University.

Website: sujata.nl

Instagram: @sujata_

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