Helping Australians navigate major societal transformations
What is Cybernetics?
At the Australian National Universityʼs School of Cybernetics, we are helping organisations navigate major societal transformations.
Cybernetics provides a unique way of understanding and managing the complexities of modern systems. Itʼs not simply the study of technology — itʼs an approach to exploring the relationships between people, technology, and environment.
By combining systems thinking with cultural, social, economic, political, and ecological awareness, the School equips individuals and organisations to engage with the pressing challenges of the 21st century.
The word cybernetics comes from the Greek kybernetes — meaning to steer, or pilot. At ANU, we ask: how can we help steer safe and sustainable technology futures?
Through innovative research, teaching, and partnerships, the School of Cybernetics is bringing this transdisciplinary practice to life — empowering people to design, build, and govern technologies responsibly.
Message from Dr Ben Swift
Studio Lead, Cybernetic Studio — School of Cybernetics, ANU
Welcome to the Cybernetic Studio — where creativity, computation, and curiosity converge.
Cybernetics is about steering — navigating complex systems of people, technologies, and environments. In todayʼs world of rapid technological change, that means helping humanity chart a course toward safe, sustainable, and equitable futures.
The Cybernetic Studio is our experimental space for exploring what responsible innovation really looks like — a place where we prototype ideas, test assumptions, and make the invisible visible.
Our Human Scale AI philosophy invites us to slow down and look closer: to make the workings of computation tangible, perceptible, and open to reflection. By bringing technology within human reach, we empower people to shape it with care and intention.
Through collaboration with partners across industry, government, and the creative sector, weʼre developing artefacts, frameworks, and practices that help organisations design for safety, sustainability, and accountability.
Together, we can build technologies — and futures — that keep humanity, and the planet at the centre.
— Dr Ben Swift
Meet Dr Ben Swift
Studio Lead, Researcher, Artist, Educator
Dr Ben Swift is an internationally acclaimed artist–researcher and leader at the Australian National Universityʼs Cybernetic Studio. His work sits at the intersection of art, technology, and human experience — exploring how computation can be made creative, transparent, and socially responsible.
A pioneer in creative computing, Ben has performed internationally as a livecoding artist and co-founded the ANU Laptop Ensemble, integrating computer music with teaching and research. He is the creator of open-source tools such as the Extempore programming environment, supporting a global community of artists, developers, and researchers.
With over 15 yearsʼ experience in open-source software, computational art, and digital systems, Ben combines technical expertise with a passion for inclusivity, collaboration, and public engagement.
As Cybernetic Studio Lead and PhD Program Convenor, he drives ANUʼs vision for responsible innovation — blending rigorous research with creativity, experimentation, and human connection.
The Cybernetic Studio
Where creativity meets innovation
The Cybernetic Studio is a space for exploration, collaboration, and creation. Here, researchers, students, and industry partners come together to explore how technology can be designed, built, and applied in ways that are safe, sustainable, and aligned with human and planetary needs.
By combining hands-on making with systems thinking, the Studio offers a unique environment for testing bold ideas, developing prototypes, and generating insights that shape the future of technology.
Our Capabilities
• Prototyping & Experimentation
• Responsible Innovation
• Education & Engagement
• Expertise & Influence
Itʼs a trusted environment to learn, test, and create — where experimentation, even failure, becomes a vital source of understanding.
Sample Exhibit: The Perceptron Apparatus
The Perceptron Apparatus is a large-scale interactive sculpture — a reimagining of how early neural networks might be rebuilt if their knowledge were lost.
By making the hidden processes of artificial intelligence visible and tangible, this exhibit invites audiences to see, touch, and question the systems that shape our world.
It demonstrates the Studioʼs commitment to “human-scale” innovation — technology that can be understood, engaged with, and designed for safety and accountability.
Partners who collaborate with the Studio help bring these kinds of public-facing artefacts and experiences to life — blending art, research, and social impact.
Sample Exhibit: My First Language Model
My First Language Model is a hands-on analogue activity---a reimagining of how modern AI might be taught if its complexity were stripped away to its core principles.
By making the hidden mathematics of language models visible and tangible through paper grids and dice, this activity invites participants to build, use, and question the systems that generate text in our digital world.
It demonstrates the Studio's commitment to accessible AI literacy---technology education that can be understood through direct experience, engaged with across ages and backgrounds, and designed to foster critical thinking about AI capabilities and limitations.
Partners who collaborate with the Studio help bring these kinds of participatory learning experiences to life---blending hands-on education, demystification of complex systems, and inclusive public engagement with AI.
Sample Exhibit: PANIC!
PANIC! is an interactive installation and computational research project---an exploration of how semantic information might degrade and transform when generative AI systems are connected in feedback loops, recursively feeding outputs back into inputs.
Through these time-lapse visualisations we're invited to trace, measure, and question how semantic content drifts through repeated AI transformations. The video on display loops through different trajectories, showing how the same system produces different emergent behaviours depending on initial conditions: the starting prompt, which generative AI models are connected together, and the random seed.
It demonstrates the Studio's commitment to empirical AI research---studying complex information-processing systems through controlled experimentation, mathematical analysis, and open scientific practices (all code and data is available on GitHub) that enable reproducibility and further inquiry.
Partners who collaborate with the Studio help bring these kinds of foundational research projects to life---blending information theory, computational topology, and systematic investigation of emergent AI behaviours.
Partnership Opportunities
Collaborate with the Cybernetic Studio
At the Australian National Universityʼs School of Cybernetics, we believe the future of technology must be built with — not just for — people.
The Cybernetic Studio offers partners a distinctive opportunity to co-create responsible innovation through research, experimentation, and education. Whether youʼre a global tech company, consultancy, creative organisation, or policy innovator, partnering with the Cybernetic Studio positions you at the forefront of human-centred, system-aware design.
What partnership could look like
• Knowledge exchange — Engage through open studio sessions, workshops, and collaborative demonstrations that connect your teams with ANU researchers and students.
• Collaborative projects — Co-develop research artefacts, frameworks, and prototypes that advance responsible technology design.
• Education & engagement — Access bespoke learning experiences and short courses that develop capability in responsible innovation.
• Visibility & influence — Position your organisation as a thought leader through public exhibitions, media engagement, and co-branded outreach.
Who we collaborate with
We work with partners who share our commitment to building systems that are safe, sustainable, and socially responsible. Our focus sectors include emerging technology, AI and machine learning, fintech, global tech, consultancy, automation, robotics, and data innovation.
Partnership Tiers
Align with ANU to shape the future of responsible innovation.
All partnerships with the Cybernetic Studio are recognised through ANUʼs philanthropic framework and can be made as tax-deductible gifts.
Your investment helps us create, prototype and share new ways of designing technologies that reflect human values and planetary limits.
Platinum Partner — $150,000 Research & Creation
Work alongside our academic and creative teams to co-develop a major research artefact or project.
Partners at this level help shape the Studioʼs research directions and contribute to the foundations of responsible innovation.
Gold Partner — $100,000 Collaboration & Co-Design
Collaborate with our educators and researchers to scope and deliver an applied research or education engagement. Gold partners are featured across ANUʼs exhibitions, communications, and public programs.
Silver Partner — $50,000 Learning & Insight
Access tailored learning experiences, workshops, and engagement opportunities focused on applied cybernetics and responsible innovation. Ideal for organisations seeking to strengthen internal capability and culture around responsible technology.
Bronze Partner — $25,000 Community & Connection
Join the Cybernetic Studioʼs community of partners committed to the future of human-centred technology.
Receive early invitations to programs, exhibitions, and opportunities for engagement and knowledge exchange.
