What does AI’s growing influence over decision-making mean for artists, society, and humanity? In her new book “AI and the Paradox of Agency” WASP-HS Guest Professor Sarah Cook discusses this question with the artists contributing to the exhibition of the same name on view until January at Bildmuseet in Umeå.
Earlier this year, the exhibition AI and the Paradox of Agency was inaugurated at Bildmuseet, Umeå University. Curator of the ongoing exhibition is WASP-HS Guest Professor Sarah Cook who is now launching the book documenting the exhibition and sharing further research on the topic of agency in relation to AI systems.
“Together with the artists of the exhibition, I reflect on who or what has agency in a world with AI. What does the shift of this decision-making power away from the individual mean for artists as well as for society, the planet, and the future of humanity?” says Sarah Cook.
Contributing Artists
The artists contributing to the exhibition are all featured in the book in conversation with Sarah Cook, alongside new essays by philosopher Alasdair Milne and art critic Charlotte Kent. The contributing artists are:
Tega Brain, Dennis Delgado, Linda Dounia Rebeiz, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Nicolas Gourault, Zeno Gries, Lawrence Lek, Rachel Maclean, Stephen Marche, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Florian Model, Yuri Pattison, Planetary Portals, Raqs Media Collective, Daniel Shanken, Caroline Sinders & Romy Gad el Rab, Paola Torres Núñez del Prado, and Addie Wagenknecht.
The book also includes a chronology of recent AI art exhibitions, showing how this field has grown internationally.
“Agency, who or what holds the power to act and decide, sits at the heart of AI’s transformation of society. Through conversation and reflection, this book offers something rare: a view of AI not from policy or engineering, but from those who make us feel and think its implications most deeply,” says Virginia Dignum, Professor of Responsible AI at Umeå University.
Book Launch Events
To celebrate the launch of the book, two events are taking place: one in Umeå, Sweden, and one in London, England. Both events will feature discussions on how the agency of artists has become entangled with AI.
The Umeå event is taking place at Bildmuseet in Umeå on 14 November, at which artist Rachel Maclean’s short animated film They’ve Got Your Eyes (2026) will be screened. The following panel discussion with Sarah Cook, Rachel Maclean, and Dennis Delgado will explore artists’ uses of AI tools in their practices.
The event in London is taking place at The Photographer’s Gallery on 6 November and will include a screening of the film Gravity Will Take Us All by Zeno Gries and discussions between Sarah Cook, Zeno Gries, Charlotte Kent, and Alasdair Milne.
See event at the The Photographer’s Gallery.
Available Now
AI and the Paradox of Agency is available now from the publisher Hatje Cantz, here, and from the Bildmuseet shop following the launch.
