Curatorial Text | 展览前言

AlphaGo was able to beat humans at chess because playing chess is the perfect activity for a robot. If we could connect AlphaGo’s “brain” to a computer, we would quickly see that it possesses a level of concentration much greater than that of humans, that it never grows tired, and that, unlike us, it is not a slave to its emotions. For thousands of years, Eastern monks have used various forms of meditation to tap into hidden wisdom. Now, however, using technology such as AI and big data, we have created a type of wisdom that vastly surpasses our own.

The purpose of Zen Buddhism is not just limited to harnessing wisdom through concentration and meditation. The Zen Buddhist notion of huatou (dialectical meditation) is a highly original method of teaching: by asking themselves a question that, on the surface, seems illogical, monks are forced to confront a series of existential doubts. By reflecting on these doubts, they are able to gain new forms of enlightenment. Huatou is not mere occultism — it teaches us that everyone can develop their own interpretation of a certain issue. （Text by Qiu Zhijie）

This is the second campus exhibition of CAFA in Ars Electronica.

AlphaGo下棋赢了人类，实在是因为下棋这件事情太适合机器做了。如果把脑机装在AlphaGo的头上，它的专注度更高，它的疲劳度为零，它的情绪无喜无悲。东方人修习禅定数千年，止观心法，不二法门，竟然不在宗教中，而在数学中。无漏智慧，其实是穷举和遍历。

然而，禅不止关乎专注和入定，冷静生出智慧。禅还是另辟蹊径，切断逻辑。参话头，起疑情，不是神秘主义，是对错误和机遇的信任。

 中央美术学院EAST项目，是致力于跨学科对话的科技艺术教育国际合作平台。今年聚焦于脑科学和人工智能，携来的作品，都以禅为介质，讨论心如何与机器相处，机器何以有心。（撰文：邱志杰）