The short film Studio Visit with Eran Hadas is available to watch at the top of the page.
Eran Hadas is an accomplished poet, software developer, and media artist who seamlessly bridges the gap between literature and technology. With a diverse portfolio that encompasses traditional and augmented poetry, as well as experimental interactive art, Hadas consistently pushes the envelope in the realms of digital creativity and poetry composition within the artificial intelligence era. For a comprehensive understanding of his avant-garde approach, do not miss the insightful video embedded at the top of this article.
Hadas’ literary contributions include nine published books, and he has further extended his reach in the literary world as the co-founder of Gnat Micropress. This non-profit micropress, based in Tel-Aviv, is committed to the publication of alternative and experimental literary art forms.
One of Hadas’ most groundbreaking works is the creation of Franki, a unique robot, developed in collaboration with Maayan Sheleff and Gal Eshel. Franki is designed to simulate a documentary filmmaker, engaging in dialogues with people to explore and understand the essence of human existence. The robot responds to a variety of emotions, using its programmed linguistic skills and camera eye movements. These emotional interactions give birth to captivating videos, which are subsequently uploaded to a dedicated website, creating a digital archive of Franki’s ongoing research into human nature.
This intriguing endeavor introduces a fascinating twist to the Turing Test concept. Initially proposed by the renowned British mathematician Alan Turing in 1950, the Turing Test measures a machine’s ability to emulate human intelligence to the degree that its responses become indistinguishable from those of a human. In a remarkable reversal of roles, with Franki, humans find themselves in a kind of Reverse Turing Test, tasked with expressing and validating their humanity to the artificial being.
This unique scenario illuminates the inherent limitations of deep learning. Despite its sophistication, machine learning still faces challenges when attempting to decode the complex intricacies of human existence, even when equipped with copious amounts of data.
In the featured video, Eran Hadas provides an in-depth discussion on the themes of augmented poetry and his novel creation, Franki the documentarian robot. He also introduces Lizetush, a unique teenage software bot.
The featured video Studio Visit with Eran Hadas is part of the web series Yotsrim by Shachaf Dekel. Yotsrim includes five seasons and 73 episodes. The series won the Best Documentary award at the NYC Web Fest in 2019.
