30 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Moloch
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type: Project
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year: 2024
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image: moloch.png
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tags: [AI, Unity, Simulation, RL]
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date: 2024-06-07
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showcase:
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- name: The OBJECT Itself, Sample-Studios & UCC Digital Art in Ireland Symposium, Lord Mayor's Pavillion
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year: 2024
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location: Cork
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credits:
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Inwoo Jung: Sound design
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draft: false
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---
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In a simulation sculpted by algorithms, Moloch emerges – a digital artefact crafted to explore the ceaseless training process of an <intelligent> agent. Under the guise of reinforcement learning algorithms, the simulation draws parallels between the relentless optimisation of algorithms and the ancient rituals associated with Moloch, a deity synonymous with sacrifice.
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The sculpture contemplates the algorithm’s hidden desires that drive the agent to optimise endlessly in pursuit of a flawless policy - examining the computational sacrifice made in service to its inscrutable objectives. By examining Moloch’s influence, the work reflects on the irrational and self-destructive behaviours born from our digital entanglement with such relentless forces where the boundaries between human and machine desires converge.
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The simulation runs in real-time and was created in the Unity game-engine. The simulation observes an agent while it trains to walk using various reinforcement learning algorithms commonly employed in early physically-based animation research. The script includes extracts from Howl (1955) by Allen Ginsberg.
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Sound design by (Inwoo Jung)[https://www.instagram.com/_inwoo.j/].
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Supported by the Arts Council, University College Dublin, Sample-studios, & Artlinks.
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