What lies at the heart of Artificial Intelligence? This film explores that question by telling the audiovisual story of its physical brain — the microchip. Far from being purely abstract, AI is grounded in the tangible world. From stone to silicon, from mineral to machine, The Technological Sublime traces the fascinating journey from raw material to synthetic intelligence.
Guided by the production process of the microchip, the film begins in the Earth, where high-purity quartz is mined. We follow its transformation into ultra-thin silicon wafers, then travel through the clean rooms of cutting-edge fabrication plants, where machines like ASML’s lithography systems inscribe microscopic patterns onto silicon. The final destination: data centers where the “thinking” of AI takes place.
Along the way, abstract terms like “the cloud” and “algorithms” are given texture and weight. The film reveals the intricate global ecosystem behind AI — an interconnected network of geology, industry, innovation, and infrastructure. By making the invisible visible, it offers a richer, more complete understanding of a rapidly developing field that often feels distant or immaterial.
At its core, The Technological Sublime is a story of contrasts and connections — between nature and technology, rocks and intelligence, the ancient slowness of minerals and the dazzling speed of computation. It invites viewers to reflect on the surprising and beautiful links between the Earth beneath our feet and the minds we’re building above it.
JANNES CALLENS 