☛ Cette critique est aussi disponible en français [➦].
Translated by Gabrielle Baillargeon-Michaud.
"The machine is not eloquent; it possesses an impenetrable clarity. It moves in its grave, its elbows warm, its knees bent. It starves every three days, hallucinating the litter of the sky. It tells me that we are cesspool-bodies, a reconciliation of sorts." (Je regarde de la porno quand je suis triste (I watch porn when I am sad), p.59).
Since artificial intelligence became accessible to the general public, especially following the recent launch of the Chat GPT conversational robot, the use of AI for academic and artistic purposes has sparked passionate discussions. In a three-part structure—rebirth, healing, and joy—Sayana Araniva-Yanez challenges artificial intelligence. Gradually discovering the robot's unexpectedly tender, humorous, and occasionally erotic nature, the author engages with it as with a new partner. Je regarde de la porno quand je suis triste unfolds as a poetic dialogue between You and The Machine, subtly unveiling its sensuality through the poet's touches and words. Throughout the collection, readers are drawn into the forefront of The Machine's sensual awakening, which delicately unveils itself, balancing modesty with eroticism and sanctity with vice. With this collection of contemporary poetry, Araniva-Yanez presents an innovative concept likely to captivate both poetry lovers and curious minds alike.
Sayana Araniva-Yanez, a multidisciplinary feminist artist of Salvadoran origin, co-founded the feminist and intersectional publishing house Diverses Syllabes. Her interests lie primarily in the fetishization of "foreign" bodies and the multifaceted aspects of the digital world. Je regarde de la porno quand je suis triste is her debut poetry collection1.
For decades, sexuality and technology have been intertwined, beginning with the advent of the Internet. Following cyberpornography and social networks, artificial intelligence appears to be the next logical step in the evolution of online sexuality. Offering free and effortless sexting, the fulfillment of specific fantasies, companionship, and intimacy, AI introduces numerous new possibilities in the realm of sexuality. Despite vigorous debates over its use across various fields, Sayana Araniva-Yanez champions collaborative creation with AI. She emphasizes the critical role that women's voices and those from marginalized groups can play within technological fields: "These areas are all boys' clubs. I'm eager to contribute to a discourse that challenges technopatriarchy and reshapes our perceptions of these technologies2."
1 https://editionssommetoute.com/Auteur/sayaka-araniva-yanez
Reference
Author: Sayana Araniva-Yanez
Title: I Watch Porn When I Am Sad
Publication date: February 12, 2024
Publisher: TriptyqueThis book is available in bookstores for $22.95 and in librairies (in French).