New Technology, Same Old Orientalism
Words by Komal Salman
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New Technology, Same Old Orientalism by Komal Salman
AI-generated art is taking the world by the storm. Midjourney, being one of these softwares, makes use of textual prompts to generate images. Whilst the debate “Is AI-generated art really art?” is in vogue across most social media platforms, a far more sinister underlying conundrum is yet to gain the traction and outrage it deserves: “What does AI-generated imagery translate into for marginalized communities and minority groups outside developed countries in the Western World and the Global North?”
It is a debate which touches upon the tangents of racism, white supremacy, algorithm trainer bias, representation, colonialism, stereotypes, orientalism, and neo-colonial practices. As a digital artist specializing in illustrations grounded in culture, owing to the nature of work at Folkloristan, the realization that Midjourney is failing to pick up on South Asian attire prompts did not take long. To test this hypothesis, a prompt was developed.