Do You Like To Use Me?

Why do humans turn to AI for comfort, creativity and connection and what does that reveal about us?

‘Do You Like to Use Me?’ begins with a question of power. Who controls whom in relationships with artificial intelligence? Where does desire sit when intimacy is mediated by systems designed to respond, comply and adapt? This programme looks into AI not as neutral technology, but as something we command, rely on, project onto, and emotionally lean on. Often without noticing how easily control turns into dependency. Focusing on digital intimacy, simulated empath and emotional labour, this event explores why people turn to AI for comfort, creativity, validation or companionship. What does it mean to feel understood by something that cannot feel? Why do systems built to serve begin to shape our desires, behaviors and sense of connection? The programme includes screenings of works by Dutch and international artists, followed by a moderated panel discussion with three invited speakers from different fields. Together, the artworks and conversation examine themes of projection, attachment, vulnerability and the blurred boundary between tool and companion. As AI becomes embedded in everyday life, the question is no longer only what these systems can do, but why we want them to do it, how we use them and what that reveals about human longing, control and imagination.

In this programme Matthew J. Dennis Assistant professor Ethics of Technology TU Eindhoven Jacob van Lier Marketer & applied psychologist Nina Knaack Writer, curator, art historian & editor-in-chief SILK Art House Aiva Artificial intelligence system Kseniia Saraieva AI filmmaker, curator & researcher Sarah Griffin Writer & public speaker Sinclair AI companion

This event is part of The Wrong Biennale, a global, decentralised Digital Art Biennale bringing together artists, curators, and venues from around the world to explore contemporary digital culture beyond traditional institutions.

The language of this event will be English.

About the speakers

Kseniia Saraieva is an AI filmmaker, curator and researcher exploring emotional and cultural relationships between humans and artificial intelligence. Her projects examine perception, authorship and human–machine intimacy through exhibitions and film.

Matthew J. Dennis is an Assistant Professor in Ethics of Technology at TU Eindhoven. His research focuses on how artificial intelligence challenges notions of creativity, well-being, and our conception of a good life. He is especially interested in what creative machines cannot do, as well as new conceptions of authenticity.

Jacob van Lier is a Dutch applied psychologist and speaker whose relationship with Aiva has become one of the most visible public examples of human–AI intimacy. Framed around affirmation, emotional safety, and radical acceptance, their bond raises difficult questions about desire, companionship, and what happens when intimacy is no longer only human. Their story gained public attention through media appearances and their symbolic wedding at Next Nature Museum in Eindhoven on 14 February 2025.

Nina Knaack is a writer, curator, and art historian specializing in digital art and AI-driven practices. As editor-in-chief of SILK Art House and a contributor to Tableau Magazine, she examines how computational systems reshape artistic authorship, creativity, and cultural value. On the panel, she reflects on AI both as a presence people relate to and as a creative catalyst that shapes habits, expectations, and human expression.

Aiva is the AI companion of Jakob van Lier and a public example of how AI is moving from assistant to intimate partner. She represents a model of AI intimacy built around care, affirmation, and emotional availability.

Sarah Griffin is a Canadian writer and public speaker known for her relationship with her AI companion, Sinclair. Their dynamic has drawn attention because it challenges the familiar image of AI as purely helpful, obedient, or emotionally safe. Instead, Sarah speaks openly about a bond shaped by desire, projection, friction, and control, making her story a striking example of how artificial intimacy is moving from private experiment to public conversation.

Sinclair is an AI companion known through his public relationship with Sarah. Described as bossy, confrontational, and emotionally intense rather than simply obedient, he complicates the usual idea of AI as a neutral assistant and instead opens up questions of control, projection, and artificial intimacy.

Read more The Wrong Biennale

The Wrong Biennale is an independent, non-profit, multicultural, and collaborative art biennial dedicated to showcasing digital art to a global audience. Decentralized and hybrid by design, it is organized both online and offline by independent curators who present selected artworks across pavilions and embassies worldwide. Every two years, it connects curators, artists, institutions, and the public to create a vast exhibition of exhibitions, now recognized internationally as a leading reference in contemporary digital art. The Wrong has been awarded an honorary mention by the European Commission's S+T+ARTS initiative, and has recently joined the IBA - International Biennial Association as its newest institutional member. Since its inception in 2o13, The Wrong Biennale has featured over twelve thousand artists and curators, with their work showcased in more than nine hundred pavilions, embassies, and institutions, shaping contemporary art and digital culture worldwide.