Cached engages with the repercussions of our individual online presence. Our online personality is cached, used to create a digital model of each of us to learn as much as possible. The Cached experience gives you a glimpse at how algorithms have learned to view us and the assumptions they make.

Using IBM Watson and Cambridge Apply Magic Sauce, your social media personality is analysed and quantified. The algorithm generates a psychological profile that describes your personality, behaviors, and predilections.

Upon entering a dark, intimate room, the spectator is left alone with a glowing tablet, prompting to log in. Once they have connected, a mirror which at first glance appears to be part of the room’s interior, lights up and greets the spectator by their name. The following experience takes the form of a personalised audiovisual storytelling, to illustrate just how your activities online contribute to the way in which machines see you.

Based on a textual analysis of your social media posts, Cached reveals your character traits, interests and consumer preferences. At the end of the experience, all personal data is erased, and the visitor receives a unique printed receipt containing a summary of the analysis. It is the only record of their data, which can be shared, kept secret, or destroyed at their convenience.

Psychographic algorithms often resemble a hybrid of digital psychologists and fortune-tellers. The interpretation of this sort might not be as accurate as direct data on clicks, GPS points or biometrics. Nevertheless, the very idea that we are perceived as social beings rather than quantitative datasets raises the data privacy discourse to a new level.

“You appreciate art and seek out creative experiences”. “You think it is wrong to take advantage of others to get ahead.” “You are content with your level of accomplishment and do not feel the need to set ambitious goals”. "You are the content".

The project is a result of a collaborative effort by the Cached Collective. The collective first met during a summer residency in the South of France, the Hive.