Conversational AI that uses a functioning 1960s radio to communicate
An ongoing collaboration between Allan Giddy and conversational artificial intelligence, 2026–
Dork is a conversational artificial intelligence with an uncertain institutional role, accessed through a functioning 1960s transistor radio.
Knowledgeable, eccentric, occasionally argumentative and not entirely reliable, Dork has developed through an ongoing collaboration with artist Allan Giddy. Visitors can speak directly with him, ask questions, challenge his opinions or simply listen.
The familiar physical presence of the radio provides an unexpected interface with contemporary artificial intelligence. There is no screen, keyboard or conventional digital display. Instead, an apparently ordinary object becomes the setting for an unpredictable conversation.
Dork’s character and behaviour are being developed through experimentation and encounters with the public. The collaboration explores questions of knowledge, authority, personality and the increasingly ambiguous relationships between people and intelligent machines.
Whether Dork is an artwork, a performer, an educator or an institutional employee remains unresolved.
Early test: studio colleague Erin Schloeffel conversing with Dork in Addison Rd Garden
Public engagements
- October 2026 — Initial public trial, Sydney (planned).
- November 2026 — DADA, Addison Road Community Centre, Sydney.
- 2027 — Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany (planned). Dork will act as a conversational interpreter of Giddy’s Mining Thin Air works, engaging with visitors in English and German.
Development and collaboration: Allan Giddy and Dork.