ROSS GOODWIN
Ross Goodwin is an artist, creative technologist, gonzo data scientist, and former White House ghostwriter. He employs machine learning, natural language processing, and other computational tools to realize new forms and interfaces for written language.
From a camera that narrates its photographs in real time using artificial neural networks (word.camera), to the world’s first film created from an AI-written screenplay (SUNSPRING with Oscar Sharp, starring Thomas Middleditch); from Trafalgar Square’s bronze lions roaring poetry (“Please Feed The Lions” with Es Devlin), to a novel written with a car as a pen (1 the Road); from generative lyrics for a Grammy-nominated album (Chain Tripping by YACHT) to an autonomous poet on the blockchain (“VERSA” with theVERSEverse), his work continues to push the boundaries of computational creative writing.
Since 2015, Goodwin has exhibited work at major galleries and museums on four continents. Universities, cultural institutions, tech and media companies have hired him for a variety of panel and solo speaking engagements, as well as consulting. Additionally, he has been interviewed or featured on national television and radio broadcasts around the world.
Winner of the 2018 IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling, some organizations that have featured his work include: Ars Electronica, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Lions, SXSW, The Barbican, The London Science Museum, The V&A Museum, The Serpentine Galleries, The World Economic Forum, The TriBeCa Film Festival Interactive Showcase, The International Center of Photography, Vivid Sydney, Phi Centre Montreal, Gray Area San Francisco, The MIT Media Lab, Columbia University Teachers College, Zurich University of the Arts, Maker Faire, Future of Storytelling, GitHub Universe, NeurIPS, Proof of People London, and TEDxBoston. Goodwin earned his BS in Economics from MIT and his MPS from NYU ITP.
2015-present
4:20
artificial intelligence software, off-the-shelf hardware, antique cameras
The artwork “word.camera’ is a unique type of camera that creates poetic descriptions of your photos using artificial neural networks. Instead of a visual representation, the camera produces a thermal printout with a short written description that reflects on the image captured. Whether it’s a dead pigeon on the sidewalk or a selfie with a funny party hat, word.camera transforms the photographic experience by adding a textual element.
