Capturing a robotic moment in time

THE City of Greater Bendigo has been presented with a unique time capsule with specific directions to contain what’s within for twelve years.

The capsule, made by steel sculpture artist Andre Sardone, is a digital wrap-up of The Robots are Coming exhibition, which recently ran at Dudley house and explored the coming of artificial intelligence and its impact on communities.

Its contents, all held on a single USB flash drive, include photos of the exhibition launch and other exhibition photos, a copy of written material displayed, plus public comments left by visitors.

Exhibition curator Ivan Sun, who gave the capsule to mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf at Bendigo GovHub/Galkangu last week, said 12 years in situ is regarded by many experts as the time period for “unimaginable changes” to society and our lives.

“This year is (also) the year of the dragon and in 12 years it will be the next year of the dragon,” he said.

“In that time we’ll see some of the effects of AI having a significant impact on our daily lives. It’s not quite happening yet, but by 2036 it’ll be a different world, perhaps.”

Mr Sun said the capsule assured exhibition participants that their contributions will deliver a message in the future.

“I think it did empower them as they considered putting their works in or worked on new things,” he said.

“In some ways, it allowed them to feel that they’re part of the continuing history of Bendigo.”