PRESENTATION | Digital Dreams: The Impact of AI on Visual Storytelling

With the rise of AI-generated imagery, how do we discern what’s real from what’s not, and what impact does this have on consumers of mass media? How can we harness the power of AI to tell stories and illuminate dystopian narratives?

In this session, three projects will be presented that use evocative AI-generated visuals to soothe, stimulate, and at times shock the viewer through thought-provoking methods of storytelling and mythmaking. The session aims to educate on the possibilities and repercussions of being exposed to AI-generated imagery, and how we can use it to empower narratives that recenter the human experience through new forms of subjective reality.

Projects include:

• I WOULD LIKE TO BE MIDNIGHT / I WOULD LIKE TO BE SKY, a short film by Amelia Winger-Bearskin. This film challenges the concept of sky ownership by using innovative AI techniques to visually erase man-made structures in her landscape photography and morph hand-drawn animations. It documents a journey across the United States inspired by a politician's claim of a universal protocol for sky observation and questions traditional notions of airspace as extensions of terrestrial boundaries.

• Sublime Machine, an audiovisual experimental AI project by Nelly-Eve Rajotte, explores the connection between the female body, the biomedical field, and robot-assisted gynecological surgical procedures. It situates itself within the historical evolution of the relationship between women and robotic technology.

• You’re Very Special, an AI-generated documentary from the multimedia collective u2p050, focuses on the 2021 Capitol riot.

This session promises to delve into the transformative potential and ethical considerations of AI-generated imagery in contemporary storytelling.

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During the event, no interpreter for the Deaf will be present.

All activities held in the Salle Ludger-Duvernay will be simultaneously transcribed and translated in either French or English using an application powered by artificial intelligence. Those wishing to use this accessibility feature will find QR codes on site, which they can scan in order to connect to the live transcription. They may also click the “Transcriptions” button in the MUTEK Forum App homepage. This is a beta service, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy.