PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

Mark Pauline

Mark Pauline is an artist and machine builder whose robots appear in performance art. Born in 1953, he maintained target robots as a teenager at Eglin Air Force Base and graduated from Eckerd College with a BA in Visual Arts in 1977. He founded Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) in 1978 and staged Machine Sex, his first machine piece, in 1979. In the 1980s, he built Stu Walker, a guinea pig-operated robot, and in 1997 he and collaborators created a web-controlled firing system. SRL held its first New York gallery show in 2018, and Pauline housed his personal archive, robotics workshop, and business in Petaluma in 2025; by April 2026, he leads the group.

Now at
Survival Research Laboratories
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Timeline

  1. 1953–1977

    Early life and education

    Born in 1953, he maintains target robots at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida as a teenager. He graduates from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg with a BA in Visual Arts in 1977.

  2. 1978

    Founding Survival Research Laboratories

    In November 1978, he founds Survival Research Laboratories (SRL).

  3. 1979

    Machine Sex at a Chevron station

    In February 1979, as an artist and machine builder, he stages Machine Sex, his first machine piece, at a Chevron gas station.

  4. 1980s

    The Stu Walker robot

    In the 1980s, he builds Stu Walker, a robot operated by his pet guinea pig Stu, for an SRL performance.

  5. 1997

    A web-controlled firing system

    In 1997, he works with Eric Paulos and Karen Marcelo to create the first firing system operated by users over the web.

  6. 2018

    First New York gallery show

    In 2018, he and SRL open their first gallery show in New York; Pauline says the machines replace human performers in SRL's events.

  7. 2025

    SRL's Petaluma workshop

    In 2025, he houses his personal archive, robotics workshop, and business in a Petaluma garage.

  8. April 2026

    Leading Survival Research Laboratories

    In April 2026, he leads Survival Research Laboratories, a group of machinists and engineers.

Career

  1. From 1978Survival Research LaboratoriesFounder, Leader

Education

  1. 1977Eckerd CollegeBA in Visual Arts

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes United States Department of the Air Force. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIWe estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  4. 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birthWe estimate that 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birth (520 of 1,198 people with known birth and employment countries).

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Mark Pauline yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. The Rage Machine geezermagazine.substack.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Mark Pauline - Gray Area grayarea.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Mark Pauline - TechCrunch techcrunch.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. About - Survival Research Laboratories archive.srl.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Mark Pauline by Bill Edmondson bombmagazine.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. De-Manufactured Machines: A Profile of Survival Research Laboratories sfaq.us. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Robot wars: Mark Pauline and Survival Research Laboratories theartnewspaper.com. Checked 20 October 2026.