Chapter 1 presents an introductory overview of the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and a simple primer on the rudimentary language, concepts and history of machine learning.

“Body and Hands” alights on the intersections of AI, bodily movement, craftsmanship and labour. An artist journals his foray into coding algorithms that emulate modern dancers. A poet responds in ekphrasis to an artist who freestyles with a sewing machine. Finally, so-far asks an artist and a technology think-tank lawyer about how AI is trained on the backs of invisible bodies and surrogate labour.

“Eyes and Vision” presents both speculative and applied perspectives of computer vision. The chapter opens with a short story on a man who has an unorthodox attachment to a pair of binoculars. so-far speaks with abstract painter on her fascination with glitches in the machine vision of autonomous cars. Finally, an augmented reality technologist provides an artist with a tutorial on creating face filters.

“Language & Voice” touches on the political and social implications of natural language processing and chatbots. Against a backdrop of rising nationalism around the world, so-far chats with an artist-physicist and an entrepreneur-advisor on how the linguistics of AI are encoded with prevailing dogmas. An artist presents a poem, in an effort to find a language that flirts with the idiosyncrasies of gait recognition.

“Thought and Personhood” considers how we can understand AI emotionally, morally, philosophically and existentially. A new media artist questions a roboticist designing machines for emotional care, especially for the elderly. Then so-far speaks with a start-up that is approaching AI ethics from a point of accessibility and explainability. Finally, we have an in-depth conversation with a digital artist, a contemporary art curator, and Google’s curator for the Artists + Machine Intelligence programme.

"Soul and Spirit" concludes the Issue with a deeper dive into the supernatural, provoking the vibrations, energies and pathways of AI beyond the material present. A writer posits the world's first life extension app. so-far interviews an artist on his journey throughout Asia documenting shamanistic practices, with the hope that an AI can achieve a state of trance. Finally, a philosopher considers Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", the limits of our biological, terrestrial finitude, and what lies beyond.