Word Broker

Synopsis

Word Broker does not critique the attention economy — it replays it. Like a trader playing a stock, the visitor plays the market value of their own speech.

Pick up the handset, speak, wait. The installation analyses your speech against four criteria displayed without irony on a panel visible to all:

A valuation receipt prints out. This is not a metaphor: these are the real parameters by which platforms monetise human attention. The transparency of the system is precisely what provokes unease.

Entirely offline, no data transmitted.

Technical Setup

• Vintage telephone handset + Raspberry Pi 4
• Offline multi-criteria NLP (length, lexical rarity, emotional charge, syntactic originality)
• Valuation criteria display panel (visible to all)
• Thermal printer — valuation receipt taken away by visitor
• Entirely offline — no cloud, no external transmission
• Footprint: ~2 m² · Transport: 1 flight case
• Setup: 3–4 hours, no dedicated technician
• Power: 1 standard 220V outlet · Autonomous operation

Audience

All audiences · Adults · Communication/arts students · Digital professionals · Art & surveillance exhibitions, digital art festivals, attention economy events, media libraries, schools (media literacy), tech & ethics conferences

Credits

Artist: Kamel Ghabte · Production: Studio Kamel Ghabte · SIRET 489 325 308 00026

Dual package available: Word Broker + Script Miner — comprehensive language/value/machine programme.