Restless Grounds: Speculative Futures on Algorithmic Technologies

Restless Grounds is a publication of the Slow Al project, bringing together artistic and theoretical contributions that explore speculative futures in relation to algorithmic technologies. Slow Al is an initiative by Mariana Fernández Mora that challenges the fast-paced, extractive narratives of artificial intelligence by reimagining AI and algorithmic systems through the lens of slowness. The project is a collaboration between the Visual Methodologies Collective (AUAS) and the Algorithmic Cultures Research Group at the Sandberg Institute (GRA), kindly funded by the Centre of Expertise Creative Innovation (CoECI) and supported by ARIAS Amsterdam and the Artificial Worlds group.

The notion of Slow Al has emerged in various critical discussions around Al ethics, sustainability and accountability. Scholar Timnit Gebru has invoked the term to call for a more deliberate, thoughtful approach to AI, questioning the extractive, accelerated logics that dominate its development. In the Netherlands, AIDesign's project invokes counter-narratives beyond big tech, drawing inspiration from movements such as slow food and slow fashion to challenge the corporate-first approach to AI development. This publication aligns with and expands upon these discussions, focusing on decolonial, feminist, and kinship-based perspectives to explore how slowness can foster alternative technological imaginaries through material inquiry and artistic research methods.