hum-ai-n

EXHIBITION AND ART TALK

Art talk at 7:30 pm

What happens when AI gives you more (or less) than you asked for?
Song Lu spent her residency deepening her exploration into the connections between what’s generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the bias that comes along with that. At Surel’s Place she began a third stage in this work. In all these stages, Song Lu utilizes AI-generated imagery that changes based on different prompts, highlighting embedded biases. The first stage, titled Snow Drawing, challenged the occupational segregation perpetuated by AI algorithms. When she prompted the AI program to generate an image of an artist, it tended to picture an older white man, which began Song Lu’s investigation into exposing the narrow, Western-centric perspective perpetuated within the design.

As a result of this first exploration, Song Lu found “It’s clear that there’s a need for more diversity in the art world, and this extends to the language we use to describe artists and their work.” The second stage, Working Women, explored individual experiences influenced by both Western and Eastern cultures. This stage seeked to underscore the significance of women’s agency and power in society.

Now, in this third stage, “Hum-ai-n,” Song Lu has delved deeper into AI technology, referencing official data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Song Lu focuses particularly on two major advancements in their database: the AI chatbot ChatGPT and the AI image generator MidJourney. She uses these tools to dissect and critique the underlying data structures that shape our world, exploring aspects such as occupation, race and ethnicity, place of birth, cultural background, educational background, gender and gender identity, age, interests, and hobbies. Her aim is to discuss what distinguishes “hum-ai-n” from humans and their potential relationship. She also explores how historical data about humans can become biased, leading to stereotypes, and how to revise these aspects to create a more diverse representation of human beings. Through visual formats, Song Lu examines the implications of these technologies on our lived experiences and societal structures.