ABOUT

Ahnjili Zhuparris, PhD (NL, USA), is an AI engineer and AI artist, working between New York and the Netherlands. As an AI engineer, Ahnjili develops AI applications for the medical and cosmetic industry. Ahnjili’s academic research centers around the development of biomarkers for monitoring mental and physical wellbeing using machine learning and smartphones and wearables data. Ahnjili’s artistic research and science communication efforts are dedicated to raising awareness about A.I. and algorithmic violence, which encompasses the violence that may arise from or be justified by automated decision-making systems. Through her work, Ahnjili aims to educate the public and promote discussions about the ethical implications of these technologies in our society.

Ahnjili holds a PhD in Medicine from Leiden University, Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience from Radboud University and a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh. She is a recipient of the Mozilla Creative Media Award. Ahnjili’s work has garnered support from the Mozilla Foundation (US), IMPAKT(NL), and Constant (BE) and has showcased her work at Ars Electronica (AU), Articulating Data (UK), and the CICA Museum (KR).

EDUCATION

2020 - 2024	PhD in Medicine
	Leiden University

2016 - 2018	MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience
	Radboud Universiteit

2012 - 2016	BSc in Biomedical Sciences (with Honours)
	Edinburgh University

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS

2024	Fresh Perspective
	Stimulering Fonds
	Netherlands
	Our project ‘Screen-to-Soundscape’, received the 2024 Fresh Perspective grant from the StimuleringsFonds. This project focuses on cross-sector collaborative projects that offer new perspectives on current crises including the climate crisis, discrimination, migration and asylum crisis, social and opportunity inequality or the housing crisis.

2024	Processing Foundation Fellowship
	Processing Foundation
	USA
	Our project ‘Screen-to-Soundscape’, received the 2024 Processing Foundation Fellowship. Fellowships are an essential element of the Processing foundation’s work in developing tools of community power, connection, stewardship and in nurturing the aims/needs of the people and communities who use our software.

2023	European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists
	European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists
	Netherlands
	VOICES, an interactive installation, invites participants to co-create a sound-art composition with their voice. Participants are asked to record a secret. In return, they can be visually guided through the processing, analysis, and cloning of their voice recordings by various Machine Listening algorithms, and can experience a sound-art composition in which their voice narrates the secrets of others. This immersive experience aims to shed light on the otherwise opaque inner workings of machine listening. VOICES COLLECTIVE has been granted “the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists”. This grant, coupled with the support from IMPAKT, has enabled to bring the VOICES installation to life with an exhibition at ARS ELECTRONICA 2023.

2021	MOZILLA CREATIVE MEDIA AWARDS
	Mozilla Foundation
	United States
	MOZILLA CREATIVE MEDIA AWARDS: Future Wake www.futurewake.com is an interactive art project turns the practice of predictive policing upside down, instead, it allows citizens to predict police brutality. We used to machine learning to predict who, when and how the next victim would die. Further, we used deepfake algorithms to generate the faces of the next victims.

COLLABORATIONS

2022 - 2024	SHIBBOLETH: CREATION OF A HYBRID VOICE
	Effi & Amir
	Brussels, Belgium
	We produced a ‘dual voice’ - that transforms fluidly from a recognizable voice of Speaker A to a voice of a Speaker B while speaking. With the “switch” happening at points of sonic uncertainty in the voice output, where a certain articulation or tonal quality could belong to either speaker. The generated algorithm was used in the ‘The 8th Letter’ theater performance of Effi and Amir
	More info from Effi and Amir’s website

2023	DEEPEST DARKEST UNKNOWN
	Kurina Sohn
	Netherlands
	Text from Kurina Sohn’s website
	Deepest Unknown v.1 is an artistic collaboration with AI, generating speculative stories and images that illuminate the mysteries and potential losses of remote underwater environments. The project envision life beyond our limitations while exploring our connection with water and the ecological consequences of human actions. Through digital tools and mechanical techniques, the project transports viewers into alternative realities, expanding our comprehension of deep ocean ecologies. The analysis of individual sea creatures prompts a reassessment of our relationship with water and recognizes technology’s impact on our perception of nature.
	Deepest Unknown installation v.1 engaged the audience through a mix of graphic videos and deep-sea soundscapes. The video featured a creature created using customized StabelDiffusion AI, incorporating a deep-sea dataset and marine debris images. The storytelling aspect involved a dialogue with GPT-2, where human prompts were displayed in italics and the AI-generated script in bold. The physical space featured a DALL:E2 AI-designed zero-gravity chair and a diagram illustrating the various ways we experience nature, encouraging visitors to reflect on our relationship with the natural world.
	Deepest Unknown is realised by collaboration with Ahnjili Zhuparris (Customising StableDiffusion AI), Colette Aliman (Deep-sea soundscape design), Tiiu Meiner (Co-writing GPT-2 video script), Tivon Rice (‘models for environmental literacy’ GPT-2 dataset), Taegwon Bae(Film Art Directing , 3D Art), Changju Yoon(UnrealEngine engineering), Seungmin Lee(film editing, VFX post processing), YoungJae Nah(animator), and Marsha van Leersum(Assistant).
	Kurina Sohn’s website

EXHIBITIONS

2024 - 2024	NEW MEDIA ART CONFERENCE
	CICA Museum, Seoul, Republic of Korea
	Fashion Police Drones In June 2024 at the CICA Museum, the Fashion Police Drone installation will be presented at the New Media Arts Conference in Korea. The Fashion Police Drones, armed with custom fashion recognition algorithms, will track individuals based on audience-defined criteria for “fashion crimes”. Through this interactive experience, the exhibition challenges conventional perspectives about drone and AI applications, sparking discussions about the evolving landscape of surveillance and the ethical use of AI-driven technologies in our contemporary world. I aim to trigger the audience’s curiosity about the boundaries of surveillance, the potential consequences of automation in military application and law enforcement, and the societal implications of cultural profiling.

2023	VOICES
	IMPAKT festival, Utrecht, Netherlands
	VOICES, an interactive installation, invites participants to co-create a sound-art composition with their voice. Participants are asked to record a secret. In return, they can be visually guided through the processing, analysis, and cloning of their voice recordings by various Machine Listening algorithms, and can experience a sound-art composition in which their voice narrates the secrets of others. This immersive experience aims to shed light on the otherwise opaque inner workings of machine listening. VOICES COLLECTIVE has been granted “the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists”. This grant, coupled with the support from IMPAKT, has enabled to bring the VOICES installation to life with an exhibition at ARS ELECTRONICA 2023.
	More info on the IMPAKT website

2023	VOICES
	Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
	VOICES, an interactive installation, invites participants to co-create a sound-art composition with their voice. Participants are asked to record a secret. In return, they can be visually guided through the processing, analysis, and cloning of their voice recordings by various Machine Listening algorithms, and can experience a sound-art composition in which their voice narrates the secrets of others. This immersive experience aims to shed light on the otherwise opaque inner workings of machine listening. VOICES COLLECTIVE has been granted “the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists”. This grant, coupled with the support from IMPAKT, has enabled to bring the VOICES installation to life with an exhibition at ARS ELECTRONICA 2023.
	More info from the IMPAKT website

2023	Articulating Data
	Edinburgh, United Kingdom
	Babble-on is a web-based installation allowing users to create personalized babble tapes by recording 2-3 sentences into a microphone. The audio is sliced and remixed to maintain the same audio properties of their voices. Users can download their tapes to disguise their conversations from audio surveillance. Presented at the Articulating Data conference 2023.
	More information on Articulating Data website

2021	This Machine Is Black
	Identity 2.0, London, United Kingdom
	This exhibition explored how Afrofuturism can be used to remove (or at least alleviate) the normative pressure that AI puts on non-normative bodies. Although with a few exceptions, the black experience has largely been invisible in AI datasets. I trained a series of generative AI algorithms on Afrofuturistic datasets to envision the future of the Afrofuturism aesthetic.
	More information on the Identity 2.0 website

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES/RESIDENCIES

2023	IMPAKT
	CODE: Reclaiming Digital Rights, Netherlands
	VOICES, an interactive installation, invites participants to co-create a sound-art composition with their voice. Participants are asked to record a secret. In return, they can be visually guided through the processing, analysis, and cloning of their voice recordings by various Machine Listening algorithms, and can experience a sound-art composition in which their voice narrates the secrets of others. This immersive experience aims to shed light on the otherwise opaque inner workings of machine listening. VOICES COLLECTIVE has been granted “the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists”. This grant, coupled with the support from IMPAKT, has enabled to bring the VOICES installation to life with an exhibition at ARS ELECTRONICA 2023.
	More information on the IMPAKT website

2022	ANAIS BERCK
	ANAÏS BERCK: AN ALGOLITERARY PUBLISHING HOUSE, Belgium
	During the residency we developed algoliterary publications. These are publishing experiments with algorithms and literary, scientific, and activist datasets about trees and nature. We ask ourselves: who and what is excluded, made invisible or exploited in the existent representations, discourses, tools, and practices? To address these questions, we used decision tree algorithms to sort the histories of tree nomenclature.
	More information on the Algoliterary Publishing website

COMMISSIONS

2024	Screen-to-Soundscape/Techno Disobedience
	Constant, The Processing Foundation, The Simulerings Fonds
	Belgium, USA, Netherlands
	Screen-to-Soundscape adopts a creative and experimental approach to reimagining screen reader voices. The project aims to develop a speculative design prototype that transforms a browser or screen into an immersive soundscape. This prototype will feature multiple layered voices reading all readable text in unison with spatial audio enabling users to discern the text’s location within the browser. The motivation behind this initiative is to overcome the inherent limitations of traditional screen readers by offering users with visual impairments a more intuitive and immersive way to navigate digital content. This not only benefits users with visual impairments but also provides a richer, more engaging web experience for all users. This project was supported by Constant, the Processing Foundation, and the Stimulerings Fonds.

2023	DIGITAL PIONEERS: A VISIONARY PRELUDE
	Stichting Impakt
	Utrecht, Netherlands
	“Digital Pioneers: A Visionary Prelude” is a digital artwork that blends technology and art, creating a cheeky introduction to the IMPAKT festival 2023. This piece features deepfake representations of three prominent tech CEOs, not as mere figures of authority, but as digital orators guiding the audience through the evolving landscape of technology and art. Each CEO’s deepfake delivers a segment of the festival’s introduction, focusing on themes closely aligned with their real-world contributions and visions. The first segment delves into the transformative power of technology in art, emphasizing innovation and the breaking of traditional boundaries. The second part addresses the ethical considerations and societal impacts of tech advancements, encouraging viewers to ponder the responsibilities that come with innovation. The final segment looks to the future, inspiring a dialogue about the potential of technology in shaping new forms of artistic expression. The artwork is not just a visual spectacle but an auditory experience as well. The deepfakes’ voices have been modulated to create a harmonious symphony, symbolizing the unity and collaborative potential within the tech and art communities. “Digital Pioneers” does more than just introduce a festival; it stands as a testament to the ever-blurring lines between human creativity and technological prowess, inviting viewers to explore the endless possibilities at the intersection of art and technology.

SALES/WORKS IN COLLECTIONS

2021	Identity 2.0
	This Machine Is Black
	London, Verenigd Koninkrijk
	This exhibition explored how Afrofuturism can be used to remove (or at least alleviate) the normative pressure that AI puts on non-normative bodies. Although with a few exceptions, the black experience has largely been invisible in AI datasets. I trained a series of generative AI algorithms on Afrofuturistic datasets to envision the future of the Afrofuturism aesthetic.

PUBLICATIONS

2024	Embodying Data, Shifting Perspective: a conversation with Ahnjili Zhuparris on Future Wake. In: Doing Digital Migration Studies.
	Book
	Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press
	Wevers, R Edited by Ponzanesi, S. and Leurs, Koen.
	Amsterdam, Netherlands
	This chapter discusses the artistic project Future Wake (2021) by Ahnjili Zhuparris and Tim van Ommeren that examines predictive policing. By shifting the focus from possible future crime offenders to possible future victims of fatal police encounters, using visual and affective means rather than expert knowledge and statistics, the artwork activates critical reflection on the politics and logics of predictive policing systems. The chapter first situates predictive policing in a context of securitization, and discusses how it enhances structures of discrimination. In the second part, Wevers interviews artist Zhuparris about the aims of Future Wake, discussing the artistic and technical process of creating the project, the politics of data, and the role of art in critical discussion on surveillance and AI.
	You can find the full PDF here

2022	Can AI imagine the next victims of police violence? Future Wake explores injustice through code
	It’s Nice That
	London, United Kingdom
	What are the issues with using AI for predictive policing? Could it reduce crime or does it reinforce racial biases in the criminal justice system? The co-founder of art project Future Wake examines unjust policing using AI and storytelling.
	You can find the full article on the Its Nice That website

2021	Supermens: Ahnjili op Tinder
	Book
	Bot Uitgevers
	Peter Joost
	Netherlands
	De cyclus van vrouwen meten in relatie tot Tinder
	You can find more about the book on Peter Joosten’s website

2021	This horrifying AI model predicts future instances of police brutality
	Fast Company
	Mark Sullivan
	United States
	A searing critique of predictive policing, Future Wake uses past data on police violence to predict where it might occur in the future—and who will be targeted.
	You can find the full article on the Fast Company website

2021	Future Wake: the AI art project that predicts police violence
	coda story
	Caitlin Thompson
	United States
	Future Wake: the AI art project that predicts police violence Winner of the Mozilla Creative Media award for 2021, an interactive website calculates when and where fatal encounters with law enforcement will occur — and tells the stories of the victims
	You can find the full article on the Coda Story website

2021	Artists create AI that predicts who the police will kill next
	The next web
	Thomas Macaulay
	Netherlands
	Future Wake tells the stories of potential victims
	You can find the full article on The Next Web website

REVIEWS

2023	Ahnjili ZhuParris & Jan Zuiderveld - Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Objects & Algorithmic Violence
	Radio
	Cross Pollination
	The Hague, Netherlands
	Ahnjili is a machine learning engineer, Ph.D. candidate, artist, and science communicator currently working at an AI startup that specializes in developing deep learning models for facial augmentation. Ahnjili’s academic research centers around the development of biomarkers for monitoring mental and physical well-being using smartphones and wearables, with a particular focus on their application in clinical trials. Ahnjili’s artistic research and science communication efforts are dedicated to raising awareness about A.I. and algorithmic violence, which encompasses the violence that may arise from or be justified by automated decision-making systems. Through her work, Ahnjili aims to educate the public and promote discussions about the ethical implications of these technologies in our society.
	You can find the full podcast on Apple podcasts

2020	On Data
	Radio
	Bartalk
	The Hague, Netherlands
	BARTALK is a lecture, performance, and storytelling series that usually takes place in different bars in the Hague. Each of our podcast seasons has a different theme featuring one guest per episode offering their unique perspective.

SELECTED WORKSHOPS AND TALKS

2023 - Ongoing	The Introduction to Deep Fakes workshops
	IMPAKT FESTIVAL (NL)
	Student Union of Arts at University of Arts London (UAL) (UK)

2023 - Ongoing	The Introduction to AI for artists workshops
	HKU: Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (NL)
	ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL)
	Piet Zwart Institute (NL)
	ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL)
	iii: Instrument Inventors (NL)

2022 - Ongoing	Introduction to Generative AI workshops
	HKU: Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (NL)
	iii: Instrument Inventors (NL)

2022 - 2023	Introduction to Computer-Vision Surveillance for Artists workshops
	HKU: Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (NL)