OPENINGS

Let’s start the year with a dialogue: what is artificial intelligence? How is it transforming our world? What is its deeper meaning? What is it for you?

Stimulus: an exploration of the multifaceted role of water as a source of life, intelligence, and memory, and the connections between nature, technology, and the intricate quantum fabric of reality.

“Stop Pink!” is a book of images generated with AI models structured around scenes inspired by nature, technology, our evolution and society in general. The idea is to talk about us and the world around us, through short stories, sometimes surreal, sometimes not, sometimes deliberately exaggerated and symbolic, sometimes poetic or dreamlike.

Oliver Rasmus Schneebeli is a Swiss graphic designer and illustrator, born in 1969 in Lugano. After studying graphic design and illustration at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués de Lugano (ESAA), then sociology of communication at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), he became a freelance graphic designer in 1999, within the Strates photographers collective, in Lausanne. He has produced several books and magazines for photography, posters in the cultural and social fields, websites and journals, logos and coordinated corporate images. His passion for images, photography and drawing naturally led him to take an interest in algorithmic image generation systems in 2023. He created several thematic series of images before launching the project «The Pink Series» in early 2024 and «The Black Series» in October of the same year.

Abstract
Water has been the fundamental component of all living beings that have emerged on this planet. It governs and supports atmospheric phenomena, balances the mineral, plant, and animal worlds, and preserves the matrix of life across all cultures, both living and extinct. Can we deepen our understanding of its significance even further?

Scientific inquiry often seeks to simplify, isolating and reproducing phenomena under controlled, sterile conditions. Yet, such approaches risk losing the coherence of the ecosystems they aim to understand. Alessandro Chiolerio’s experiments at Paneveggio Forest in Val di Fiemme Italy, have provided for the emergence of intriguing correlations: by observing an “holobiont” in its natural environment, analyses have revealed the features of a collective being, potentially enabled by quantum phenomena.

The study of bioelectric signals—collected and analyzed as part of this research—provides a unique "listening" method that unveils unexpected behaviors. Over time, Plants and Fungi have developed intricate networks of both visible and invisible connections. Ultimately, these networks share a common denominator: water.

Recent experimental studies are uncovering the extraordinary possibilities of water-based computing systems. As the cornerstone of life and intelligence, water's ability to encode and transmit information challenges our understanding of its role in both biology and physics.

Alessandro Chiolerio's conference will feature a live quantum experiment, open to audience participation, demonstrating the world's first programmable liquid computer. By examining water through this multifaceted lens, the conference seeks to bridge the gap between science, nature, and technology, inspiring new paradigms in understanding intelligence and memory in the universe. 

Currently bridging synthetic intelligence and biological intelligence, their suitability for building analog memories and reservoir computers, and the electrical communication channels between plants and fungi in a living forest on the other side, where computational entropy and divergence could highlight learning mechanisms. Chiolerio has). He is co-author of 150 scientific articles collecting over 6800 citations to date. Chiolerio has filed overall 34 patents as sole or principal inventor. 

This body of work suggests a future where water, ecosystems, and quantum systems redefine our understanding of intelligence and memory.