Jake Zaslav is an M.A. candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University where he explores how sensory experiences cultivate intimacies between humans and non-human agents.

Jake’s thesis draws upon posthuman design theory, Feminist STS, and psychoanalysis to examine the possibilities for human-computer interaction that emerge from breathing together with machines. His research-creation project involves developing a robot that “breathes” in response to the respiration patterns of human participants as a means of investigating the potential for anxiety, fantasy, and posthuman care that materializes through somatic contact between flesh and circuity.

As a research assistant and coordinator for the Milieux Institute’s Machine Agencies Working Group, Jake examines the relationships we forge with AI, algorithms, and machines. He has organized workshops, artistic critiques, and discussion groups – inviting communities to engage with the incredible potential and risk for new modes of creativity, subjugation, and artistic expression that emerge through interacting with AI models.

Prior to attending Concordia, Jake was a 2023 *This is Not a Drill* Fellow with NYU Tisch School of the Arts. In this role, Jake utilized generative AI, jazz improvisation, and oral history to explore the past, present and future of New York’s Lower East Side and the climate crisis. Jake completed his B.A. in Music and Political Science at Tufts University where he conducted research on the role of breath in music and the affective power of sound in videos of police violence.

When not researching, you can find Jake practicing his trumpet, rock climbing, or listening to his album-of-the-day.