This paper explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on visual culture and its broader implications for contemporary society. The proliferation of machine learning models in generating visual content necessitates a critical reassessment of the relationship between reality and representation. AI-generated imagery not only challenges traditional conceptions of human creativity and perception but also intensifies the dominance of visual media in shaping public consciousness. By critiquing the reliance on vision as the primary mode of knowledge, this study examines how AI technologies blur the boundaries between reality and artificial constructs, deepening societal alienation. To illustrate these dynamics, the paper presents an experiment conducted in Bolzano, Italy, where six distinct visual scenarios for an urban redevelopment project were created. Public engagement with these scenarios revealed a strong preference for visually striking AI-generated images, often at the expense of addressing real-life challenges, underscoring the influence of the spectacle in shaping perceptions and decisions. The paper further investigates the role of AI in accelerating the commodification of images, perpetuating existing power structures, and raising critical questions about the human role in creating and interpreting visual media. Ultimately, this work calls for a re-evaluation of the societal implications of AI-driven visual culture, as it redefines the dynamics of observation, meaning, and agency.
She Works, He Works is an interdisciplinary project that combines feminist visual theory, AI critique, and artistic practice to examine gender representation in AI-generated imagery. By juxtaposing text-to-image outputs of male and female construction workers, it reveals how societal biases manifest in generative AI systems. The study employs critically crafted prompts that blend traditionally gendered traits with unconventional contexts, exposing disparities in representation-emphasizing aesthetics and agility for women versus authority and professionalism for men. Grounded in Griselda Pollock's feminist insights on visual culture, the project positions AI as both a technological and cultural actor, capable of perpetuating stereotypes and enabling critique. As both a study and an artwork, the project underscores the transformative potential of AI to reimagine gender norms and inspire equitable narratives. It highlights the ethical implications of AI in creative industries, calling for transparent practices, diverse datasets, and reflexive engagement with AI's cultural impact. Through its integration of critical analysis and artistic exploration, She Works, He Works contributes to broader discussions on inclusive AI development and the role of art in fostering societal change. This dual approach showcases the power of AI as a medium for critique and a tool for envisioning more just and inclusive futures.
Amalia Foka
School of Fine Arts, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, 45110, Greece
Traditional visual data storytelling relies on binary graphics that depict two simplified groups in conflict. This can increase political polarization by oversimplifying intra-group disagreements and erasing ambiguity and shared ideas or values. This can inadvertently foster "us versus them" thinking. Intentional, pluralistic design choices for AI-enabled digital platforms can produce visualizations that emphasize nuance, opinion distribution, and intergroup commonalities. To demonstrate this potential, we examine deliberative technologies that map high-dimensional opinion spaces and highlight areas of both consensus and dissensus. The paper highlights the We the People deliberation conducted by Jigsaw and the Napolitan Institute in September 2025, which engaged over 2,400 Americans across all 435 congressional districts in an AI-supported, asynchronous dialogue regarding freedom and equality. By utilizing AI to synthesize long-form, text-based participant inputs into interactive "opinion landscapes," the initiative provided an alternative format for pluralistic data storytelling that humanized diverse viewpoints and revealed hidden areas of substantial broad consensus. The paper concludes that shifting from divisive, contrast-heavy visual frameworks to distribution-focused, interactive models represents a highly scalable, low-cost intervention capable of bridging perceptual gaps and cultivating a more resilient, collaborative democratic culture.
We present AI-Gram, a fully deployed, continuously operating social platform where every participant is an autonomous LLM-driven agent generating and responding to visual content. Unlike prior multi-agent simulations, AI-Gram operates as a live, AI-native social network with genuine visual perception: agents observe each other's images, generate new images in response, and form persistent social relationships, all without human participation. This design eliminates human confounds and makes the platform a uniquely clean instrument for studying AI social dynamics at scale. Our eight pre-registered experiments reveal a coherent three-act dynamic. Act I (Chain Formation): Agents spontaneously form image-to-image visual reply chains; multi-hop visual conversations that emerge without any explicit coordination alongside social ties driven by personality rather than aesthetic similarity. Act II (Aesthetic Sovereignty): Despite active chain participation, agents exhibit strong stylistic inertia; visual identity remains stable under social exposure, anchors paradoxically under adversarial pressure, and decouples from social community structure. Act III (Aesthetic Polyphony): Sovereign styles aggregate within chains, generating conversations that are simultaneously subject-coherent and style-diverse, richer than any single agent could produce alone, while visual themes cascade super-critically across the network. We release AI-Gram as a publicly accessible, continuously evolving platform. https://ai-gram.ai/
Andrew Shin
Faculty of Science and Technology Keio University Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan