For Trigger, Fotomuseum Antwerp’s publication, I am currently writing a series of article on AI and the history of Photography. Read the first part here. With great illustration by Léa Djeziri.
Artificial intelligence is impacting the world in fundamental ways. Much has been said about the complex and often problematic implications of AI and algorithms on our politics, societies, and cultures. Technological solutionism solves problems that don’t exist without it; machine-vision has removed humans from decision-making and data-collecting processes; surveillance by states and other societal players is increased through repressive algorithms that outgrow the potential for human-in-the-loop adjustments; and the racial, ethnic, and social biases against certain groups are reproduced in developing techniques. James Bridle has perfectly described and analysed this in his book New Dark Age. But not nearly enough has been said about AI in the world of photography. More recent democratised generative iterations of AI have uncovered, channelled, and stimulated common fears about the machines taking over creative industries. AI indeed seems a ‘catalyst for collective hallucinations’. While this article is mindful of the very real threats AI poses in its various guises, I prefer to search for the margins in which resistance to repressive systems is still possible. This involves changing the terms of the debate from threat to possibility, and from creativity to predictability.