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title: An Echo Chamber for Our World Order

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# An Echo Chamber for Our World Order 

### [In/Visible](https://feralfile.com/exhibitions/in-visible-419) is an exhibition that explores fundamental issues Black artists grapple with while using AI. It is an urgent response to the biases of AI in representing Black people, cultures, and artistic expressions. Ultimately, it raises the question of how a new technology emerges and what it means when not everyone has the same level of access to it.

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJyVobDD3.jpg)<caption>“[Planet Hibiscus](https://feralfile.com/artworks/planet-hibiscus-ysn?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), AE8521” by Adaeze Okaro
</caption>

AI does not exist in an apolitical, post-racial, and post-colonial vacuum. Though autonomous in its workings, it is constructed by humans. The data used to train it is gathered by humans. Humans are political entities. It should be therefore no surprise that AI reflects the same biases and exclusionary practices that define our time. 

While the artists in this exhibition buy into some of the promises of AI, they understand its tendency to be an echo chamber for our world order. This makes their relationship with it complicated, but also makes their participation in its emergence critical. 

Curator Linda Dounia Rebeiz asked the artists in this exhibition about what motivated them to start exploring AI, what their relationship with it is, and how they see it evolve in the future. 

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/By3YhbDDn.jpg)<caption>“[The Idunnos](https://feralfile.com/artworks/the-idunnos-hhr?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), AE1244” by Jah.</caption>

“I started extensive experimentation with AI while recovering from Covid in late December 2022. The process unlocked an ocean of new possibilities for me in terms of world-building and storytelling. With AI, I’m able to build the worlds that I’ve always imagined by transferring the skills I’ve learned in filmmaking and visual art. It’s taken my art to a new level, and the responses and opportunities I've received as a result further affirm that this path is right for me. One potential avenue I see for AI’s evolution is refining its intuitiveness and improving its understanding of a variety of references to enhance its outputs.” – Jah

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B1T4TZDvh.jpg)<caption>“[UNTITLED](https://feralfile.com/artworks/untitled-lpa?fromExhibition=in-visible-419)” by Arclight</caption>

“Working with AI to create a Black presenting body is always a challenge for me. I also have concerns about the source of the images used in its training. This is why in my work, I only use it to generate an additional layer of materials for my collages. I make AI-generated variations of my work and iterate on them further to get the results I am looking for. The piece that I have contributed to this exhibition is a collage of DALL•E’s interpretations of seven artworks from my archives. I have come to love working with AI in this way because it brings new dimensions to my pieces and more material to work with.” –Arclight

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryvkAbwDn.jpg)<caption>“[Proof of Spirit — Act II](https://feralfile.com/artworks/proof-of-spirit-act-ii-jtq?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), #36” by AFROSCOPE</caption>

“I started working with AI largely out of curiosity and a need to experiment. I wanted to find out first-hand how the technology could extend the stories I was already telling and possibly even inspire new ones I wouldn’t be able to conceive without diving in head first. 

“However, I began working in the AI space before actually creating art that directly infused the technology. Back in 2019, I and a team of professors, artists, entrepreneurs and academics founded ‘AI 4 Afrika,’ as a way to push for more inclusivity within the AI space. And in 2020, we were invited to participate in the UN’s annual AI 4 Good conference in Geneva. 

“Beyond exploring how it could augment my work and assist in my production, working with AI also got me to reflect on how my work and the narratives I explore could spark more inclusive thought and also bring more awareness to issues about my context. I’ve experimented with all facets of the technology: training my models using large datasets of images I’ve created, locally installing Stable Diffusion to experiment with various models, playing with tools like DALL-E and Midjourney, and doing text explorations with ChatGPT. It has been a stimulating experience, and I feel a draw to explore further. 

“There have been moments when I’ve been disappointed by some outputs, though. I have also spotted biases within the various platforms I’ve experimented with. Seeing how some of the software I was using only a year ago has evolved within the past few months, I understand the general fears and concerns around the rapid development of AI, and the need to pull in the reins a bit. I want to remain hopeful that we’ll be able to navigate all these emerging issues successfully so that the largely positive experience I’ve had working with all these tools is preserved and extended to folks around the world.” – Afroscope

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Sy2n1Mwvh.jpg)<caption>"[Cities and spaceships](https://feralfile.com/artworks/cities-and-spaceships-knv?fromExhibition=in-visible-419)" by Rayan Elnayal
</caption>

“I find that AI struggles to distinguish between different African ethnicities. To be honest, I have still not found AI to be of much use or in alignment with my work. I am strict in how I use it as a result. I am not sure how my relationship with AI will change in the future, but since I use a lot of photographic references in my work, I would love to use AI to help generate 3D models from my photographs. It would allow me more time to work on my compositions.” – Rayan Elnayal 

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJB5ezDD2.jpg)<caption>"[Summer Edition](https://feralfile.com/artworks/summer-edition-sti?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), #24 by Zoe Osborne"</caption>

“I have always been curious about AI’s understanding of Caribbean identity and its limitations. I wondered if it could be taught to understand cultural nuance. At first, it felt as though I was fighting with AI. Getting it to portray different ethnicities and unique characteristics of people in the Caribbean was a challenge. The more prompts I created, the more apparent the bias in AI’s database became. At some point, I even got angry and offended. 

“I did, however, eventually find my voice by thinking about what images AI might be pulling from. I used a lot of blending and fine-tuning to get the results and details in the Summer Edition collection. Moving forward, I would like to explore how I can train AI to reduce its limited perception of race and culture, especially as it relates to the Caribbean. I think it would be an interesting tool to explore the idea of Caribbean Futurism.” – Zoe Osborne

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Hk8xWzvD3.jpg)<caption>"[Confetti](https://feralfile.com/artworks/confetti-fo3?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), #47 by Nygilia"</caption>

“When I started incorporating AI into my practice, I wanted to use it as a storytelling tool to share my cultural heritage. When a new tool emerges, I think it’s vital to surface its positive applications. It’s been an enriching and engrossing journey that has allowed me to explore a variety of artistic styles, and I am just getting started.” – Nygilia 

![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByGSGzwP2.jpg)<caption>"[Chez Jo](https://feralfile.com/artworks/chez-jo-ei5?fromExhibition=in-visible-419), #46" by Linda Dounia Rebeiz</caption>

“My AI journey started with GANs. Because of how GANs work, I have come to see AI as a sort of archival tool that has the ability to expand on itself. I have trained GANs with images of art that I have created myself and with images of artefacts from my environment. The idea that I can use contextual data — which I have assembled to explore problematics and curiosities that are intimately mine at an unprecedented scale — is very attractive to me. It makes me feel like I am etching parts of myself and all that comes with it (my context, the influences that have shaped my work, the memories that keep me whole) into the annals of the internet. I am a Black woman artist used to navigating spaces (the internet, the art world, capitalism) that often exclude me or misrepresent me. So to me, working with AI has become political. 

“While I am aware of the many problems AI presents today, especially for someone like me, I have accepted that it is here to stay. I have also accepted that exploring how it can engage with artistic practice is a critical activity, especially for artists already working in the digital realm. Much of what AI becomes tomorrow and the guardrails we place around it will be informed by artists exploring it today. We can’t know what to ask for until we’ve encountered its potential and limitations first-hand. 

“Having experimented with AI in more ways than I could fathom, I feel a deeper sense of progression and connection with my craft. It scratches my itch for divergence and scale, and it’s a bottomless pit of exploration. My chief issue with it — its bias towards Eurocentrism— is not one that I think can’t be overcome. My hope for the future, through my work and that of other Black artists exploring it today, is that it will grow to reflect the vastness, richness, and diversity of the world.” – Linda Dounia
