18-01-2025
MEETING WITH ANCA GORON, HEAD OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AT AVA RESEARCH & CONSULTING.
by Reza Malekzadeh, French Tech SF
Anca holds a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and has devoted over a decade to academic research, with her work featured in prestigious journals, earning international recognition and awards. Over the past 20 years, she has focused on pioneering technologies across various fields, including IoT, astronautics, smart cities, data security, space exploration, medicine, education, and neural AI. An accomplished entrepreneur, Anca founded two AI startups, one of which she successfully sold after receiving an award from the Dubai Ministry of Tourism in 2017. In 2018, Forbes USA named her among the Top 100 Female Founders to Follow. As a very enthusiastic advocate for women empowerment, education and inclusiveness, Anca actively mentors young female entrepreneurs and students in data science and AI through organizations like Women in Tech, Women in AI USA, SDGCoLab, and the Edu Think Tank 360. Since 2023, she has served as a member of the Romanian Scientific Council for Artificial Intelligence Ethics and is a contributing editor and speaker on topics such as AI in governance and community co-design. Now, as the founder of AVA Research, a creative AI company, Anca continues to drive innovation and challenge the status quo with unique projects and ideas contributing an interesting new angle to the French Tech scene.
“Art has always carried the timeless ideal of immortality, which can now be preserved as the ultimate vibrancy of the inner universe of the human mind.”
Anca, I remember in one of our first meetings, you presented me with an interesting concept project using BCI (Brain Computer Interface) technology and now, as I understand, you are preparing an AI & Consciousness art event in Paris that will be aligned with the AI Action Summit (February 10 & 11, 2025). I might say that your event has a very intriguing premise. Could you explain what inspired you to combine AI, art, and consciousness into a single project?
Ever since I first started interacting with AI almost two decades ago, I was intrigued by how it can be applied to enhance human creativity. Through the years, I encountered different artists, from painters, to sculptors and musicians. Slowly the dots started connecting until last year, when finally, attending the preopening of the Venice Art Biennale, I had the chance to meet and further collaborate with a very talented London based artist Aziza Kadyri, the representative of the Uzbekistan National Pavilion. As an artist using technology to bring to life cultural heritage and traditional crafts, she was embracing AI as the tool that enabled her to conceptualize all her creative ideas. Together with my team, we helped her using advanced AI image analysis algorithms to implement the idea of having the unique and harmonious movements of a professional dancer encapsulating centuries of Uzbek tradition and heritage brought on stage in KINDL Center for Contemporary Art in Berlin. It was not about artificial intelligence copying human creativity as we currently see with GenAI technology, it was a masterfully orchestrated dance of artistic reinterpretation of human essence metamorphosed into a mesmerizing earthly creation with algorithmic precision by AI. The emergence of AI-image generators, such as DALL-E 2, Discord, Midjourney, and others, has stirred a controversy over whether art generated by this non-sentient artificial intelligence is a creative expression, lacking surprise, emotion, and even silence. This led me to explore new ways in which AI can enhance this ultimate expression of art as an outside representation of human consciousness and create a direct liaison between our internal subjective world with an objective outside immortalization and that is where BCI technology came in handy.
Can you tell us more about the technology involved, specifically how the Brain-Computer Interface plays a role?
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are computer-based systems that capture signals generated on the brain’s surface using invasive or, in our case, non-invasive methods (electrodes). These electric signals are different in magnitude and frequency. After the signal is cleaned, they are processed and classified to be used for a specific task. This technology dates back all the way to 1924 when the German psychiatrist Hans Berger discovered the electrical activity of the human brain and became the inventor of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the brain is incredibly complex and there are certain limitations to consider. BCI devices are mainly being used in medical applications and this is how we actually got introduced to the technology two years ago. Our CTO, Mihai Simedrea, was working on a medical research project to treat communication disorders such as motor aphasia, apraxia and aphonia using a non-invasive BCI headset designed to translate thoughts into speech.
It seems that it was perfect timing. What is different between your approach then other companies? What makes it stand out?
You see, for a long time, attempts have been made to decode the human mind, and researchers have put significant effort into this topic since the 1980s. However, a non-invasive process was challenging because signals are not as qualitative as an intrusive solution. The truly innovative part is the merging of Brain-Computer Interface with AI and Large Language Models (LLMs). In a primitive stage, a BCI system may not precisely decode every signal, but a LLM can function as a supervisor, efficiently translating signals into natural language through specific prompts. At the time, we were exploring innovative solutions to enhance creativity for a client project, and I immediately recognized its potential to offer a glimpse into the streams of human consciousness. We immediately started playing with the technology and focused on finding new ways to stimulate and enhance human creativity. This is when participating in a discussion with several artists and presenting our challenges we had the idea of allowing artists to create and reinterpret streams of consciousness directly from subject minds.
That sounds revolutionary. But can you explain a bit more how this project will unfold and how the artists will be involved?
The project entitled "AI & Consciousness Art Manifesto” will consist of an interactive phygital (physical-digital) experiment hosted at two locations in Paris, France (Danae.io Gallery and WXY Gallery) from January 31 to February 14. Over two weeks, one hundred volunteers will participate in live sessions where their neural data is captured in real-time using several BCI helmets, while being guided and assisted through a dedicated AI avatar. Each person’s unique “thought signature” will inspire a digital art creation, conceptualized by various collaborating artists and minted as NFTs. Visitors will be able to witness the live representations and admire the visual art creations, while getting informed on the technologies used and being able to interact with real specialists at the location. At the end of the experiment, we will merge all individual contributions into a collective consciousness masterpiece called “The 100 Thoughts Canva,”symbolizing the interconnectedness of human thought and creativity. The unique piece of art will be auctioned during the closing event. Also, data gathered from this experiment will be used in supporting ongoing medical research in communication disorders. I am also lucky to collaborate with a fantastic team of people and experts from the art world.
Beyond the art, what larger questions or implications does this project aim to explore?
For generations, humans have dreamed of communicating and interacting with machines through thought alone or creating devices capable of delving into the mind and uncovering its thoughts. These ideas have fascinated humanity, appearing in ancient myths and modern science fiction. Only recently, however, have breakthroughs in cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging technologies brought us closer to making these visions a reality. By utilizing sensors that monitor the brain's physical processes linked to specific types of thought, we are beginning to directly interface with the human brain. The prospect of controlling a computer solely through the power of the mind is now closer than ever.
The scope of the project is to raise awareness on the duality of Brain AI Technology and its implication not only in the art and creativity space, but ultimately to spark a debate on the intrusiveness of AI technology and whether and where a limit must be imposed in the capability of reading thoughts, dreams and fingerprinting human brains. Throughout the two weeks, we will host debates bringing together world-renowned specialists in neuroscience, Brain AI Technology, artists, and representatives from the art world and government, discussing the implications and impact of such initiatives on the future of creativity and art. We want to spark critical conversations around the ethical, philosophical, and societal dimensions of these technologies. All the insights will be documented in a unique Consciousness AI Art Manifesto that we would like to present in various publications to serve as a blueprint for future explorations at the intersection of AI and humanity. On the one hand, it empowers us to externalize and visualize abstract thoughts; on the other, it raises important questions about privacy, identity, and the ethical use of such technology. Art provides a unique medium to explore these themes in a way that is accessible and emotionally resonant.
Why did you choose Paris as the location for this event, and what significance does it hold for the project?
Paris is not just the city of art and culture; it is also a hub for innovation and intellectual debate. The event’s timing aligns with major technology and cultural happenings like Paris Fashion Week and NFT Week and the AI Action Summit organized by the French presidency. This mix will allow us to connect with diverse audiences. A major contributing factor is also the support we got from the French Ministry of Culture which will endorse AI and art events happening at that time in Paris and will offer us the chance to have a special AI & Art Session during the preopening weekend of the AI Action Summit.
Finally, how do you see that the audience—both participants and spectators—will be impacted by this project?
I hope participants and viewers leave with a deeper understanding of AI’s dual role: its remarkable potential for creative collaboration and the challenges it poses to human identity and ethics. I want people to feel inspired, provoked, and more curious about the possibilities and responsibilities of AI in our lives. I believe the art of the future will be a transmission of creative energy between the artist and the viewer. Art has always carried the timeless ideal of immortality, which can now be preserved as the ultimate vibrancy of the inner universe of the human mind.
Thank you, Anca, for this insightful discussion. We are looking forward to the AI Art Manifesto and the conversations it will spark. We also look forward to having your work travel to San Francisco for future showings here in the heart of the AI tech scene.
Thank you also Reza! We are extremely excited, and we are looking forward to having you and the broader French Tech audience at the exhibition and the adjacent events. We are working on finding possible collaborations with local players in order to bring the work to San Francisco. Also, for those interested in testing the technology, we encourage them to register as volunteers at:https://www.avaresearch.ai/aiart and follow us on @brainaimanifesto.
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