What the Machine Remembered at TechDays Munich 2026
On 15 and 16 July 2026, I presented Die Maschine erinnert sich—The Machine Remembers—at TechDays Munich as part of the artistic programme curated by Blended Art Space.
The interactive installation asks what it means for a machine to remember a person. A camera observes the visitors, while a custom-built neural network extracts facial markers and combines them with previously collected data. With every new encounter, the system generates changing collective faces.
The resulting images do not depict any individual visitor. Instead, they form statistical portraits created from numerous glances, movements and brief encounters. They appear familiar, yet belong to no one.
Unlike human memory, which is emotional, selective and constantly rewritten, the machine remembers through measurement, classification and averaging. The work also exposes the limitations of machine perception: categories such as identity and gender are not simply recognised but constructed through learned patterns.
Presenting the installation at a technology conference created a productive tension. While artificial intelligence is often associated with precision, efficiency and personalisation, Die Maschine erinnert sich focuses on ambiguity, reduction and loss. What remains of a person after they have been translated into machine-readable information?
Thank you to TechDays Munich, Blended Art Space and everyone who entered the installation and became part of its temporary collective memory.
More information about the installation can be found on the project page.