In “What do you want me to say?,” Lauren Lee McCarthy reflects on the ways femme-voiced virtual assistants are commanded and controlled by their users and their developers. In her own words:

«Exhausted by Zoom calls, I created a digital clone of my voice to replace me. I feel a sense of power owning the data of my own voice. I am taking it back from the tech companies who are constantly collecting my conversations, sampling, analyzing, and archiving my speech for future use yet unknown. Instead, I offer the control of my voice to others. Upon visiting the work, you are asked by my voice, ‘What do you want me to say?’ However you reply, my voice responds by speaking your own words back to you. Then it asks again, ‘What do you want me to say?’»

The artwork examines vulnerability, ownership, and authenticity in a time of rapidly advancing virtual reality. For the first month of exhibition, this work is fully interactive and accessible to anyone. After this period, collectors have access to the interactive version for a full year. After one year, the piece converts into an archive playback version including the set of phrases her voice was instructed to say over the year.

PLEASE NOTE: the artwork can only be experienced on Chrome and recent versions of Safari browsers.