What is a political image?

What impact do these “political images” have on society, empathy, credibility, or, for example, on the understanding of democracy?

What experiences do viewers have? In addition to databases and newly created AI images, interviews are conducted with experts from the fields of cultural studies, visual arts, social sciences, and neuroscience.

Their scientific analyses and expertise are intended to comment on and critically examine the artistically created image worlds within the context of their respective research.

Edited excerpts from the interviews will also be published on the website and made publicly accessible.

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With the digitization of the news industry, people worldwide have easier access to political images or are subjected to a daily flood of images—consciously or unconsciously. This has rapidly increased the impact of news images on consumers. Starting from the classic medium of the newspaper, which still claims a certain level of seriousness and objectivity, the proposed project uses Artificial Intelligence to examine what can be "read" from the multitude of journalistic images on the front pages of selected newspapers.

The critical factor is the abundance of information that each individual image conveys on its own, as well as when considered in the context of 365 days a year over a period of five years. Image consumers carry this visual information with them; it cannot simply be erased from memory. Instead, overlaps and blurring of the acquired visual memory occur. AI-based image generators will be used to visualize and investigate these blurrings and overlaps.

The project thus combines a documentary approach with meticulous collection and archiving of newspaper images, generating new images using targeted text prompts that are based on the databases, images, and text information. These images and data will serve as the foundation for a digitally produced interview series with experts. The project fundamentally raises the following questions:

What are political images?

What do political images mean for our society?

Another focus of discussion will address the ethical and moral responsibilities associated with AI-generated images.

Every day, we consume politically charged images in digital news forums. This project uses AI-powered image and text generators to explore how this flood of images affects our perception of political information. Which images remain in our minds?

The project trains an AI in real-time using realistic reportage photos from globally recognized newspapers.

ThIS project website documents the investigative and experimental learning process.