Synthetic Sirens at Silesian Museum

Synthetic Sirens invites us to contemplate human wellbeing in an age where our social media feeds are steered by AI algorithms. The artwork draws inspiration from the mythic Sirens—creatures whose seductive songs or enchanting appearance lured sailors into losing control of their ships and meeting their fatal end. Here, the Sirens are reimagined as alluring AI systems living within social media. Today’s Sirens do not sing from the rocky shores, but from our screens with irresistible signals, precisely tuned to our desires.

In this digital chorus, notifications, recommendations, and personalized content merge into a hypnotic choir—promising relevance, connection, and belonging. Yet beneath the beauty of the song lies another current, one that pulls us toward distraction, polarization, and the gradual, almost imperceptible, erosion of mental wellbeing. The work examines how AI-driven feeds and data infrastructures sculpt our perception of reality and shape our sense of self, while quietly reshaping the inner architecture of thought. This digital choir pulls us, almost unknowingly, toward our own dissolution. Can you resist the lure of the Sirens, or will you drift too far and drown in the deep ocean of the feed?

Media
LLM, machine learning, 3D animation, AI voices, human voices, depth camera, video
projection, and wooden ship mast.

Credits
Artwork developed by artist Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm and her art-tech
studio ARTificial Mind, with contributions from assistant artist and software
developer Mathias Warnich and sound artist Yann Coppier.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to researchers and students at Michigan State University for contributing to
the artwork’s development by sharing their lived experiences with algorithm-driven social
media.

Commission & Support
Commissioned by the Broad Art Museum. Supported by Michigan State University and the
Danish Arts Foundation.