Becoming Data

Today, human beings are born with not just one body, but two: a biological one and a body of data formed of all the digital information that their parents begin leaving behind on Google, ChatGPT and in various apps as early as during the pregnancy. After birth, this body of data continues to grow at a rapid pace – expanding with every anxious online search made by the parents and every piece of advice they seek from AI bots. Before these toddlers can even recognise themselves in the mirror, many a data company already claims to know more about them than doctors, educators – and even their own parents.

Cosima Terrasse, Laura Andreß and Moritz Riesewieck are venturing on a theatrical experiment: What kind of portrait does an AI construct live on stage from five real babies, based solely on their digital footprints? What do these supposedly predictive data points reveal – and what do they conceal? Indeed, what futures does the AI ​​promise these children?

“Becoming Data” throws open a theatrical reflection on identity, control and the question of whom we choose to entrust with the narrative of our lives.

Laokoon draws on research to develop innovative forms of theatre focusing on the question of how our concept of humanity and society is changing in the digital age. The group made its debut in 2022 with the immersive investigation “Wo du mich findest” (“Where You Find Me”).

This production is part of the thematic focus on “New Realities – How AI Is Shaping Our Lives”.