Over the past two decades, the perception of digital technology has shifted dramatically. What once seemed like a powerful tool for emancipation and democratisation, enabling global knowledge sharing and amplifying marginalised voices, has increasingly come to feel like a brain-draining sidekick. Today, screens dominate our attention from toddlerhood to old age.

We’re witnessing AI agents not only competing with humans in the labour market but also beginning to encroach on emotional relationships and intimacy. Increasingly, we seem to be giving intimate agency to non-human elements in our life.

A fascinating artistic exploration of this is Host, an AI-driven performance where participants are guided through an experience via an earpiece, receiving real-time instructions on how to act, respond, and speak. The immersive setup explores how AI can interact with, influence, and even manipulate human behaviour and emotions. Thematically, it raises questions about the extent to which AI can take on roles traditionally reserved for humans – and what that means for agency, control, and connection.