Liam Young: World Machine

Venture into an extraordinary future in the artist and director’s mesmerising film, where a planetary supercomputer has transformed Earth into a machine. In this visually striking science-fiction film artwork, artist Liam Young confronts the explosive growth of AI and what this surge might demand of us and the Earth. Blending real-life footage with stunning CGI, World Machine imagines a future where a planetary supercomputer emerges, weaving Earth’s surfaces into its machinery. Valleys turn into circuits, salt flats become processors, rivers turn into flows of power. Fresh from its premiere at the Barbican’s In Other Worlds exhibition, World Machine asks if we can reshape the planet for new technologies without repeating the destruction of the past. Looking at the potential for vast wind and solar farms to power AI data centres, the film invites you to think about how these technologies might co-exist with the Earth, rewilding the landscape in a way that finds a balance between technological progress and environmental stewardship. Liam Young is a designer, director and BAFTA-nominated speculative architect who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. His visionary films and speculative worlds are both extraordinary images of tomorrow and urgent examinations of the environmental questions facing us today. World Machine was commissioned by Barbican and Arts Science Centre and premiered as part of the In Other Worlds exhibition at Barbican on display from Ma