From 2021, general public has discovered machine learning programs such as DALL-E, Midjourney and Disco Diffusion. These impressively high-quality, authorless pictures are provoking both wonder and debate in the international creative community. At the same time, these generative technologies are questioning the foundations of democracy, challenging notions of veracity, privacy, ownership and shared values. With its twofold American and Chinese hegemony, AI has become an insidious cultural model for the rest of the world. This lecture will study how art and design can help reveal these political issues and open other possible futures for AI.

biography

Anthony Masure is an Associate Professor and Dean of Research at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève, HES-SO). His research is currently focused upon the impact that artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies have upon design. He is the author of the essays Design and the Digital Humanities (2017) and Artificial Design: Creation Versus Machine Learning (2023). He is also a co-founder of the research journal Back Office.