AI War Cloud Database

What responsibilities do users and makers have in choosing AI tools, when their development can also lead to deadly outcomes at massive scales? «AI War Cloud Database» catalogues the systems used to make automated decisions in warfare, and it maps where the same types of tools appear in smartphones and popular social platforms. The iris scanner tested on refugees becomes technology for a crypto wallet. The robot vacuum mapping homes becomes a bomb robot abroad. The chatbot trained by low-wage workers determines the results of your next internet search and also the next drone target or the force of the next bomb. «AI War Cloud Database» makes these latent connections plain. It builds a taxonomy of AI decision-making systems, shows how they are used in both military and commercial contexts, and tracks which nations and corporations are collaborating to deploy them. It offers an interactive interface for interrogating both automated warfare and the seemingly innocuous devices we use every day.

Sarah Ciston (they) is an artist-researcher building tools to bring intersectional, critical–creative approaches to machine learning. Winner of the 2025 Ars Electronica STARTS Grand Prize, they are the author of “A Critical Field Guide for Working with Machine Learning Datasets” and co-author of Inventing ELIZA: How the First Chatbot Shaped the Future of AI (MIT Press, Spring 2026).

Year:
2025

Type:
Interactive Installation

Where:
tba

Website:
sarahciston.com

«AI War Cloud Database». Photo: Sarah Ciston, 2025.
«AI War Cloud Database». Photo: Sarah Ciston, 2025.
«AI War Cloud Database». Photo: Sarah Ciston, 2025.
«AI War Cloud Database». Photo: Sarah Ciston, 2025.