“The Illusion of Thinking” at V2_Lab

Friday 21st November, 2025 - Bruce Sterling

https://v2.nl/events/the-illusion-of-thinking

The Illusion of Thinking is a group exhibition that explores the overlooked implications of artificial intelligence and its assumed capacity to think and reason. While AI often suggests genuine cognition, it primarily mirrors human ideas through recall and imitation, raising fundamental questions about the nature of understanding itself.

As AI systems become increasingly embedded in everyday life, the exhibition challenges dominant narratives of technological progress and the pursuit of sentient intelligence. It examines the limits of optimization, the complexity of learning, and the infrastructural conditions that shape AI’s development.

By looking beyond the desire for computational consciousness, The Illusion of Thinking reflects on the value systems and myths surrounding technological innovation—and what might be lost in the ongoing drive for efficiency. The exhibition invites us to reconsider what thinking truly means, both for machines and for ourselves.

Artists

Constant Dullaart
ID.ACCO (Dirk Paesmans)
Femke Herregraven
Flavia Dzodan
Evelina Rajca
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
Other Contributors

Yuk Hui
Nora O’ Murchú
Florian Weigl

The exhibition and publication are part of V2_’s long-term curatorial research into Artificial Inequality. Following Reasonable Doubt (2021), which examined the structural injustices reinforced by technical systems, and {class} – On Consequences in Algorithmic Classification (2023), which explored how algorithmic categorization shapes society, The Illusion of Thinking (2025) marks the third chapter in this ongoing inquiry.

Practical

12 December 2025 – 18 January 2026
Opening: 11 December 2025
Opening hours
Thursday – Sunday 12:00–17:00h
Fridays 12:00–21:00h
Entrance: 5 euro (payable at the door)