Julien Prévieux FR
Threat 2

Interactive installation

Exhibition “ Fabulations — Reclaiming Our Voices, Reinventing Language

October 30 through January 17, 2027
, Wednesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

21 bis, Mirabeau – Departmental Cultural Center
Aix-en-Provence

Credits

Frac Normandie Collection

Menace 2 (Machine Educable Noughts and Crosses Engine) is a piece of furniture that learns to play tic-tac-toe. It is a durable replica of one of the first machines capable of learning. It was created in 1961 by Donald Michie using matchboxes to implement a reinforcement learning algorithm. Reinforcement learning involves identifying the best possible choices in a given situation through trial and error. The best decisions become more likely to occur, while the worst ones gradually become less likely. This algorithm works invisibly in our modern machines, but this drawer-based device allows us to grasp its principles by executing it “physically.”