Bella Jacobs - Leveraging Artificial Intelligence: An Experiment in Decolonizing Art

Bella Jacobs AHVS MA
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence: An Experiment in Decolonizing Art
Art history is at a critical moment of reckoning as we work to decolonize a discipline that has historically been shaped by Western discourses. As we navigate the ramifications of colonialism, how do we decolonize and dismantle colonial frameworks? Decolonization requires an ongoing process of learning, paired with reflection and action, that leads to unlearning an established thought process. As people take accountability for their commitment to change, how does this affect Artificial Intelligence (AI)? There are several different types of AI that store and communicate information depending on the goal of the machine. However, they all start with a base level of knowledge that is input into the system. In recent years it has become popular to use AI in a text-to-image model that produces imagery raising concern on how to classify ‘real’ art and issues related to copyright. This presentation will not argue over the ethics of AI: rather, it explores the influence of dominant ideologies on the images AI produces. Moreover, experimenting how the outcome of these images would differ based on the AI’s foundational knowledge. Can AI become a vehicle to decolonize dominant ideologies embedded in art? Ultimately, altering perceived aesthetic stereotypes bringing the field of art history into a decolonial state.