Helen Knowles

Can an algorithm be held culpable for its actions in a court of law? In her ongoing project The Trial of Superdebthunterbot Helen Knowles explores questions of ethics and accountability in relation to the increasing, and often unseen, computer automation of our lives. A debt collecting company buys up student loans and uses big data to ensure fewer loan defaulters by targeting individuals with job adverts posted to their social media pages. A chain of events leads to deaths in medical trials. What might the legal consequences be? The installation for Invites comprises a 45 minute film shot at Southwark Crown Court, a specially designed jury bench and courtroom sketches. More

Helen Knowles (b. 1975) is an artist and curator of Birth Rites Collection. She studied at Glasgow School of Art and Goldsmiths University for her MFA, and lives and works in Manchester and London. Recent exhibitions include; Gender Generation, Dyson Gallery, RCA, 2016, Between the Lines, GRAD, 2016 and Collaborate! Oriel Sycharth Gallery Wrexham, 2015. Her work is held in public and private collections including The Whitworth Gallery and Tate Library and Archive and Knowles is currently one of seven artists on the Future Everything Fault Lines programme.