Hidden Layer

In the current world where technology plays a vital role in everyday life and we are inextricably tied to our smartphones, it is interesting to wonder where our reliance on AI is leading us.

These themes are explored in Hidden Layer, a short film by London-based creative studio FIELD. The experimental piece, directed by Marcus Wendt follows an 'augmented human,' a gorgeous human-robot hybrid, who occupies a clean, light, virtual world until the system malfuctions and the geometric images around her shatter like a computer screen, plunging her into darkness. 

“When our everyday decision-making is closely intertwined with artificial intelligence systems – personal assistants and neural networks filtering the information we access and the content we consume, weighing up probabilities and managing our time – how does that affect how we feel as human beings?" asks Wendt. It's an open-ended question which mirrors the vague and mysterious conclusion of the film.