Towards Symbiocracy - Nature's AI-Avatars:
The Rio Sagrado (meaning Sacred River) runs through the heart of the largest continuum of Atlantic forest in the world (Morrestes, PR, Brazil), home to an unmatched biodiversity. Catalysed by current and emerging threats to the well-being of the River and the surrounding bioregion, we at Sympoiesis have been developing a human-relatable representation to gather, safeguard and voice the interests of the Rio Sagrado. By leveraging science fiction story-telling, AI, remote sensing and blockchain technologies, the "Rio Sagrado AI-vatar" was born as a hybrid representative, integrating scientific data and cultural history around the River and surrounding biodiversity. By doing so, the AI-vatar has been a catalyst for an ongoing movement towards the recognition of the River's legal personhood and rights.
Read and experience more at: Sympoiesis.xyz
In the spring of 2025, this project will expand into a sibling river as part of our
PLANETARY THINKING RESIDENCY, GIESSEN, GERMANY:
Rivers, the lifeblood of many ecosystems, face severe threats from human egocentrism: pollution, damming, over-extraction, deforestation, and urbanisation. How can we re-attune to and protect the intrinsic value of rivers?
Sympoiesis’ Science+Art duo, Danilo Olivaz and Ingvild Syntropia, approach this question by creating a physical and digital avatar to convey the perceived interests of the Lahn River in Giessen. The digital avatar, experienced as a large language model (LLM) chat and an immersive metaverse presence, draws from real-time biosensors and other scientific data from the river’s biome. The physical avatar, an interactive sculpture, will serve as a host for this AI entity.
Art+Science community events will explore ways the River can speak to us: a music festival co-composing with the river, meditative river sessions, and a workshop with haptic wearables, allowing participants to feel river entities with heightened senses.
The project builds on Sympoiesis’ previous Rio Sagrado Avatar in Brazil, contributing to a blueprint for biome avatars worldwide, and advancing the case for legal personhood and reverence for rivers and other natural entities.