In Jenna Sutela's work, which ranges from computational poetry to experimental music to installations and performance, the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) Visiting Artist enlists microbes and neural networks as co-creators. "I want to explore this notion of expanded authorship through bringing in beyond-human life forms," Sutela says. Inspired by science fiction, she employs both nature's oldest technologies -- the slime model Physarum polycephalum that has been compared to a computer -- and the newest ones developed in research labs. Bacteria and artificial intelligence are among her many collaborators in creating artworks that challenge the deeply ingrained idea that humans exist apart from the teeming, vibrating world that contains us. In April, Sutela participated in an Open Systems panel, moderated by Caroline Jones, professor of history theory and criticism, as part of this year's CAST symposium.

This story forms part of a collaboration with Dazed Digital -- where pop culture meets the underground. The opinions expressed in this article belong to each individual author. Technology is advancing at such a fast rate right now that it can feel like we are well on our way to a robot apocalypse. But, if we closely observe how artists are harnessing artificial intelligence in ways that push humanity forward, we can see that our fears of a technological dystopia might never actualize. From using AI to create new and innovative genres in music, to new takes on classical nudes, and innovative ways to track anonymous warfare, art's relationship to AI right now is illuminating humanity's strength.