“An Interview with ALEX” is an interactive experience that puts the audience at the center of the narrative. It simulates a 12-minute job interview with an Artificial Intelligence HR Manager in a future of gamified work and total surveillance.
Country: U.S.A
Year: 2020
Length: 12 Minutes
Language: English
Platform: The project is browser-based and can be accessed from any laptop or desktop computer.
Technical Requirements:
01. Desktop computer with a browser that supports speech recognition. Please check this page to see if your browser supports speech recognition.
02. Webcam.
03. Headset with microphone.
Important Note:
Enabling camera and microphone access is for the purpose of storytelling. Rest assured that no user data will be stored in this experience.
“An Interview with ALEX” is a 12-minute, guided, interactive experience that engages the participant in a job interview with ALEX, a powerful artificial intelligence HR employed by a speculative tech giant called “Open Mind Corporation.” Through a science-fiction lens, the experience reveals how AI, and the gamification of work can be used as subtle tools of control in the interest of those in power.
The story happens in a future online workplace. The participant plays the role of an interviewee on their way to becoming a Level 3 Professional Mini Gamer at “Open Mind Corporation.” ALEX, the automated human resources manager guides the participant through a seemingly casual and fun interview, in which the participant plays games, reads news headlines, and gets tips from watching the current employees chat.
The experience takes an unnerving turn as ALEX starts to pressure the participant to keep playing the game, and demands them to be as open as possible when answering personal questions such as “How do you feel about your relationship with your mother.”
How does one feel on an everyday basis in a workplace of total gamification and surveillance managed by automation? This is the question I seek to explore with “An Interview with ALEX.” Other than the big picture of the future of work, the project is particularly interested in the thoughts and feelings of the individuals in an AI-managed environment.
“An Interview with ALEX” is supported by Mozilla’s 2019-2020 Creative Media Awards. The project was launched online on June 16, 2020, and has been featured on the Business Insider, Computerworld, and more.
“An Interview with ALEX” is created by New York-based artist Carrie Sijia Wang, supported by Mozilla Foundation’s Creative Media Awards.
Mozilla Foundation
Jenn Beard, Brett Gaylor, Kevin Zawacki
Harmony Labs
Joy Jiang, Paul Johnson
Creative Media Awards 2020 Cohort
Kyle McDonald, Neema Iyer, Foreign Objects, Tomo Kihara, Xiaowei Wang, Qianqian Ye, Stephanie Lepp, Halsey Burgund, Francesca Panetta
Friends in the “What Participants Say” Video
David Azar, Tong Wu, Ilana Bonder, Matt Romein
Carrie Sijia Wang is a Chinese-born, New York-based artist and designer working in interactive experience, often utilizing a variety of methods such as coding, video editing, graphic design and live performance. She is interested in how systems, rules, and regulations affect cultures, beliefs, and rituals. The juxtaposition between the real and the fictional, the rational and the absurd is a recurring theme in her work.
Wang is a Mozilla Creative Media Award recipient and a 2019-2020 research fellow at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. She has shown her work at venues including New York Transit Museum, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, and CultureHub.
