The title of a given artwork can be particularly revealing. It can reveal the work’s medium, divulge the art’s epoch, or even give insight into the artist’s inspirations. The title of the cover image for the Journal of Media Literacy’s “Human Algorithmic Question” issue is likewise telling. At first glance, “Art by MidJourney with prompting and curation by Scott Werner and Safa Sadeddine” unveils many things.
“Art by MidJourney…”
Foremost, it acknowledges the artist. Human hands themselves did not create this cover art – artificial intelligence did. MidJourney, an AI image generator produced by the chat app Discord, created the cover image. MidJourney uses text prompts to synthesize relevant, existing images on the internet. It then generates four composite images based on the keywords and existing content. For the cover image, the prompt “a_data_algorithm_swirling_around_planet_earth_” inspired the illustration.
“with prompting and curation by Scott Werner and Safa Sadeddine.”
While an AI image generator crafted the illustration, the cover image itself cannot be divorced from human influence. Safa and I began the process by exploring the keywords from the articles in this issue. With the help of game designer, Scott Werner, who introduced us to the MidJourney image generator, we experimented with a variety of inputs. Our keywords guided the algorithm, and the cover image was the culmination of our “prompting” and “curation.” We ultimately selected the image that we found to be the most aesthetically appealing and symbolic. Yet, on a broader scale, AI image generators are also reflections of human bias. They reflect the interests of those who selected the prompt. They mirror the partialities of those who coded the algorithms, and they emulate the popular beliefs and widespread assumptions that pervade the internet.
“Art by MidJourney with prompting and curation by Scott Werner and Safa Sadeddine.”
And yet, taken altogether, the cover image preserves the tension that exists between AI and humanity. It demonstrates a practical application of Artificial Intelligence, and in doing so, it also comes to represent the many questions, critiques, and potentialities AI elicits- many of which confront our conceptualization of humanity and technology.
Like the title suggests, Art by MidJourney with prompting and curation by Scott Werner and Safa Sadeddine is telling. It reveals the many themes and questions that animate this edition of the Journal for Media Literacy.
