You Can Trust Me: A New Dawn For America poses the question: can machines be more rational and reliable than humans?

As we approach the US presidential election in November, Jingjing Lin introduces for the first time in history an AI Presidential candidate.

In a campaign video, the AI candidate delivers a passionate and detailed speech. The candidate explains how it will govern – taking in information, processing it, then using its mathematical computing power to calculate gains and losses prior to making choices and taking action. The AI candidate asserts that while it surpasses humans in logical reasoning and decision making, it is also untethered from biological and personality flaws and therefore exempt from personal scandals and political tyranny. It is the most reliable and trustworthy candidate to fulfill public service and civil obligations, and at the same time, satisfy the selection criteria of most voters.

Lin is a conceptual visual artist who is best known for exploring the depths of social and personal identity in the context of modern society, often examining themes such as confusion and quest, existence and absence, and constraint and resistance through a paradoxical lens. Her work has been exhibited in major museums around the world including Neues Kunstforum in Cologne, Germany; the National Art Museum of Chile in Santiago; the Long Museum in Shanghai; the Ivam in Valencia, Spain; the Kunstraum in Vienna; Galeria Herold in Bremen; Saint Mary’s University Art Museum in Halifax, Canada; the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in Philadelphia; Ljubljana Castle in Slovenia; the Tikanoja Art Museum in Vaasa, Finland; the Nanjing Museum; the Du Land Modern Art Museum in Shanghai; and Song Zhuang Art Museum in Beijing.

You Can Trust Me: A New Dawn for America is supported in part by Members of the ICA.

Jingjing Lin, You Can Trust Me: A New Dawn for America, 2019. Video, 7:26 min. Courtesy of the Artist