In his 2003 paper, Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?, philosopher Nick Bostrom suggested the possibility that, in the future, civilisations might be so technically advanced that they might fancy running “ancestor simulations” of the sentient beings in their distant past. Following that hypothesis, our bodies, our minds and the physical world that we currently inhabit could very well be little more than a computer simulation engineered by those future beings.

Piotr Winiewicz, About a Hero, 2024

Ruben Cabenda, Töngö sondi, 2024. Installation view, Idfa Doclab

This year’s edition of IDFA DocLab, the platform for interactive and immersive documentary art at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, has chosen as its theme This Is Not a Simulation. The title celebrates the twofold power of technology. On the one hand, VR, AR, AI and other technologies can produce virtual life-like creatures, immaterial wealth and absorbing software constructs. …