Insights
Our prototype elicited contrasting reactions from different audiences: Many People of Color expressed that the installation made them "feel like history is more accurately represented." In contrast, White participants often reported feeling uncomfortable when controlling and intensifying the pain and violence depicted in the images — an indication of White defensiveness.
Through this project, we explored and challenged a technology, that like no other dominates the current discourse. Over the last few years, an increasing number of scholars have argued that the impact of AI is repeating the patterns of colonial history (Hao, 2022), manifesting in algorithmic discrimination, oppression, flawed AI governance, and medical research disparities.
In our specific use of Stable Diffusion, the AI occasionally distorted human figures and faces, resulting in unintended dehumanization—directly contradicting the goals of our concept. Further research is needed to prevent such distortions and ensure the integrity of representation in our work.