Ghost in the Machine - Screening and Q&A

A special screening of Valerie Veatch’s acclaimed documentary, Ghost in the Machine on Saturday 22 August 2026 at 3pm! This screening is a partnership between Our AI Collective and The Filmhouse in Edinburgh, and will include a Q&A after with the director and other guests. 'Entertaining enjoyable doc also serves as a useful straightforward primer on AI history.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - The Guardian The untold origins of artificial intelligence lie not in machines but in power, revealing the fantasies behind the hype that got us here and where we go next. **** _Official film synopsis_ Ghost in the Machine is a gripping and urgently relevant investigative documentary that exposes the buried history of artificial intelligence, not as a neutral system of algorithms, but as a technology shaped by racism, misogyny, eugenics, and entrenched structures of power long before it entered everyday life.

Rejecting the notion of AI as inevitable or objective, the film traces how myths of progress and efficiency have obscured deeper political and cultural agendas, revealing the ideological foundations beneath the systems now reshaping modern society. Structured as an eight-chapter inquiry, the film blends historical excavation with contemporary analysis to confront essential questions: who built these systems, whose values they encode, and who they benefit. Directed by Valerie Veatch, whose Sundance-premiering films Me @ The Zoo (HBO) and Love Child (HBO) examined how emerging technologies transform identity, power, and culture, Ghost in the Machine employs a bold yet accessible cinematic approach that is as unsettling as it is illuminating, offering a visceral understanding of a technology that now touches nearly every aspect of modern life.

This is not a film about machines. It is a film about power. Ghost in the Machine interrogates who builds AI, who benefits from it, and who bears the cost.

In partnership with the Filmhouse in Edinburgh. Details: Saturday 22 August 2026 Time: 3pm-6pm Venue: Filmhouse Edinburgh, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ _Film is 1hr 50m and will be followed by a 1 hour Q&A with the director Valerie Veatch and others_ Tickets: Full £13.50/Senior £11.50/Under 15 £6/Access & Wheelchair £5. £1.50 booking fee per order.

Watch trailer here https://youtu.be/i9DAv0D7tnY?si=L8DZLUtNsW8rEStU