Hello! In this post I will be designing a project inspired by Lev Manovich’s projects on his page, which I accessed here: http://manovich.net/index.php/exhibitions/display:list. The article from this site that inspired me the most is titled “From Museum Without Walls to GenAI Museum.”
In this article Manovich describes how generative AI can be used for “speculative history” which allows AI tools to take in data and create similar images inspired by the original work and context. The example of this used in the article is AI generated paintings using the artistic styles of well-known Renaissance artists. He also suggests that this kind of AI can be used to create works of art that would emulate artists if they were inspired by other cultures or simulate a collaboration between two artists. All forms of this generative AI use cultural analytics to analyze large-scale data sets.
My project would utilize cultural analytics by analyzing artifacts or structures that are damaged or missing aspects of them and reconstruct them. This could be used by many humanities disciplines but especially within history. By using written accounts of an artifact or structure and following the lead of the complete aspects of the item generative AI could completely reconstruct it. This would allow users to better understand the completed look of the artifact or structure to fully appreciate its purpose and value. This could be used in academic settings to teach about how these items have deteriorated over time when compared to the real image. An example of using this on a large scale could be a reconstruction of ancient ruins, one could reconstruct the structures in the ruins to create a complete picture of the area.
While this tool could be useful to fill in holes of physical artifacts it could lead to spreading misinformation. AI is flawed just like any other technology and could create an issue with assuming aspects of history that are not correct. This could lead to spreading misinformation and creating narratives with only speculative history as evidence. This tool could be useful, but it is likely that with misuse it could create more issues than solutions.
Leave a Reply