Do NPCs Dream of Electric Sheep?, 虛擬之實

Do NPCs Dream of Electric Sheep?虛擬之實

29/03/2024

Video games are fun nostalgic memories for many people. Gaming provides us with alternative universes different from the mundane reality: to take on adventures, to live like outlaws, to be gods, to interact with characters knowing that it is okay to fail, and to raise cute virtual pets when parents reject having real ones. It is harmless, no matter what you do over there. The virtuality in gaming liberates us from social codes, but does humanity still matter there? Is it fine to treat non-physical and nonsentient virtual beings as we want? Would cruelty towards them hurt the virtue of humanity?

In the dawn of artificial intelligence, virtual entities becoming more similar to humans intellectually. The questions above are more relevant than ever. Videotage’s “Do NPCs Dream of Electric Sheep?” looks into humanity through a series of video works questioning humanity in virtuality.

Artists:

Edwin Lo
Ip Yuk Yiu
Tsui Hou Lam
Lawrence Lek

Curator: Angel Leung

Assistant Curators: Lewa Chan, Myra Chan, Chung Wing Shan

對許多人來說，電視遊戲充滿許多美好回憶，為我們提供沉悶現實以外的可能性：踏上冒險征途，當個亡命之徒作奸犯科，像神一樣決定他人命運，談一場可以不斷重來的戀愛，甚或養些父母管不著的可愛虛擬寵物。在那個世界，無論你做甚麼都沒有誰會真的受到傷害。玩家不必在遊戲的虛擬世界中遵從社會規範與其後果，但這前提下人性仍重要嗎？我們可以隨意對待無實體、無知覺的虛擬存在嗎？對他們殘忍會損害人性的美德嗎？

隨著人工智能崛起，虛擬實體在智力上越趨接近人類，上述問題也許很快不再是假設。透過一系列探索虛實界線的錄像作品，錄映太奇「虛擬之實」藉此審視數碼世代的人性難題。

藝術家：

羅潤庭
葉旭耀
徐皓霖
陸明龍

策展人：梁安琦

助理策展人：陳琸錀, 陳嘉欣, 鍾詠珊