Laura Cinti is a research-based artist working within the intersections of art, science and technology. She is currently leading a project using drone technology and artificial intelligence to search for a female counterpart of an extremely rare male cycad on the verge of extinction. Laura’s artworks have been exhibited and presented internationally. She’s a Research Fellow at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton and part of the art collective C-LAB in London. We spoke to Laura and the interplay of emerging technology, art and the environment.
1. What themes do you explore in your practice?
A unifying subject in my art practice is plants. A recurring theme is around the paradox of the overlooked - plants, despite their critical role in sustaining life on Earth, remain a mystery to us, often overlooked in our daily lives. My work tends to be embedded in scientific techniques as it helps shed light on the unique strengths that allow plants to thrive in their sessile existence.
Although I have explored a broad range of themes, most of my projects have a strong scientific connection through the use of methods but weave in philosophical inquiry and storytelling to deepen the research perspective.
In my recent works, I focus on sustainability and biodiversity and explore how sensing technologies and visual narrative approaches broaden our insights into ecological systems.
2. How are you using machine learning and data to engage with species loss?
My latest project, AI in the Sky, uses remote sensing technologies to search for one of the rarest plants on Earth: the Encephalartos woodii (E. woodii). This species of cycad, now classified as ‘extinct in the wild,’ survives only through clones of a single male specimen in botanical collections. Without a female, sexual reproduction isn’t possible and it remains the last of its kind.
AI in the Sky is driven by the question: could a female still be hiding in the remote areas of the Ngoye Forest, where the only male E. woodii was discovered?
By using drones equipped with multispectral sensors we can survey these remote areas, collecting thousands of high-resolution images that we process into detailed mosaic maps. AI is critical here: we’ve trained a machine learning model using both real and synthetic images of cycads, enabling it to detect these plants in diverse environments. By creating synthetic data, we allow the AI to recognise cycads in landscapes where they might otherwise go unnoticed.
The project itself is rooted in technological intervention - combining drone-based sensing and AI to explore landscapes in unique ways. The AI model parses data that is otherwise beyond human perception, revealing ecological layers we couldn’t access through traditional methods. It’s about expanding the possibilities of environmental monitoring, especially for species on the brink of extinction.
The artwork, however, represents a distinct outcome of this process. It acts as a narrative device, making visible the layers of data and technology that underpin our search. We use the raw material from the drone flights - the mosaic maps, the AI outputs, the synthetic imagery - and weave them into a narrative that tells the story of the search and its processes. The drone footage transitions into data, illustrating how the landscape becomes something computational - processed, segmented, and reassembled by algorithms.
The visuals shift from recognisable forest forms to spectral visual layers, offers a glimpse into how multispectral technology uncovers elements otherwise invisible to the human eye and then proceeds into a view of how the AI interprets the environment - as seen through the eye of the AI. It’s not about presenting an untouched landscape but rather exploring how technology mediates and manipulates that environment in the act of searching for specific species. This narrative of transformation - natural forms becoming data - is key to the artwork. It underscores the entanglement between ecological exploration, storytelling, and the machines we now rely on to extend our capacities. It is a reflection on the broader implications of using AI and data-driven tools to engage with species loss.
3. What do you encourage viewers to take away from your work?
One of my aims - beyond locating a female E. woodii - is to highlight the often-overlooked plight of cycads. This situation, termed the “cycad extinction crisis,” underscores the urgent need for conservation as many cycad species have been driven to the brink of extinction by overcollection and the horticultural trade. Cycads are the most endangered plant group on our planet.
While E. woodii's plight is unique, it reflects similar challenges faced by plant and animal species worldwide due to human intervention and environmental change. My hope is that the project serves as a call to action, prompting us to consider the delicate balance between technology and nature.
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4. Why do you think art provides a powerful entryway into engaging with our environment and biodiversity?
Art may not always be the most direct way to engage with environmental and biodiversity issues. While it can inspire responses and offer alternative perspectives, its impact on tangible action is often indirect or abstract. The challenge in purely speculative or aestheticised approaches is that, while they may invite reflection, they may also oversimplify complex issues.
In my current project, the integration of scientific research and technological interventions attempts to move the artwork beyond a conceptual approach to one that has the potential for lasting impact. The challenge is to balance art’s ability to raise awareness and pose critical questions while recognising that it may not always be the most effective tool for driving concrete change. However, by staying with the complexity of the issues and acknowledging the entanglement of human, non-human, and technological forces, art can play a critical role in fostering deeper understanding, recognising that such an engagement requires not just creative exploration but rigorous inquiry and sustained effort.
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5. Looking to the next few years with AI, what do you see as the biggest opportunities for artists working at the intersection of art and science?
AI undoubtedly offers vast possibilities for artists, particularly at the intersection of art and science, but for me, the true opportunity isn’t just about generating new materials or visuals. It is a chance to rethink how we engage with complex systems - ecological, technological, and social. I believe artists working with AI will move beyond the spectacle of machine-generated art and focus on the deeper implications of the technology.
One of the biggest opportunities, I believe, lies in understanding the algorithms and tools themselves. Artists who grasp how these systems work - who stay with the complexities and ethical questions of AI - will be able to create work that not only reflects the world but actively interrogates it. This could mean using AI to reveal the hidden structures of our ecosystems, or to explore the human-machine relationship in ways that provoke critical questions about creativity, authorship, and responsibility.
AI is not just a tool for making art; it’s another lens through which we can reconsider our place in the world, how we relate to non-human systems, and the future we’re shaping. The opportunity is in the tension - between creation and critique, between human and machine, and between artistic expression and ethical responsibility.
