Benjamin Grosser’s painting robot creates art in response to what it hears. The american artist, composer and technology-enthusiast has created an interactive robotic painting machine that uses artificial intelligence to paint its own body of work. The machine responds to sound in its environment which is recorded using a microphone. This aural information is then interpreted and entered into an algorithm that makes decisions about the painting process, thereby affecting the actions of the robot. When there is no sound the robot listens to itself, but the presence of sound influences what it paints.   Grosser embarked on this project after thinking about how everyday actions are increasingly mediated by technological systems that are designed to facilitate our needs. He wanted to explore the idea that as these systems become more complex they could evolve to work for their own needs.   In doing so he explores the difference between machine vision and human vision, whether decisions are made consciously and how surroundings affect behaviour. It is interesting to see how thought-provoking projects like this investigate the connections between interaction, technology, consciousness and art.