A team from Art-A-Hack™ 2023 Special Edition — Warsaw — AI Art in a Time of War

On the existence of self-identity is an interactive, multimedia installation that addresses the concept of identity and the impact of its loss on an individual within the context of technological revolution. The information warfare accompanying the conflict in Ukraine has raised questions in us about our own identity, its roots, and to what extent it belongs to us as individuals, and to what extent it is imposed upon us. Allegedly, truth is the first casualty of war.

Culture, faith, or beliefs are rarely matters of choice. Art, from cave paintings to Banksy’s graffiti, doesn’t exist independently but is intertwined with religion and politics.

Artificial Intelligence is already capable of creating its own images. However, some argue that these are merely processed human creations. But can humans themselves create something they’ve never experienced before with their senses? Can someone blind from birth paint? So, what distinguishes us from machines in this matter? The issue of conscious thinking in AI leads to questions about the very nature of humanity.

Is the human mind then merely a compilation of experiences? Can people think independently of the environment in which they were shaped? Can they exist on their own, detached from the culture, beliefs, and views imposed on them by society? Is national identity a natural and authentic phenomenon, or just an artificial creation of power, a tool for controlling societies? On the other hand, is it not without reason that an effective strategy to erase a nation involves destroying its language, art, and religion?

We pose questions but don’t provide answers. We want each participant in our exhibition to contemplate them on their own - that’s why we enable them to converse with themselves, or rather with their own voice-projected AI, which holds knowledge gathered from the entire internet.

The installation would be situated in two dark rooms or segments. In the first one, a picture of the entire person entering is taken. Additionally, the person must say something (ultimately giving consent to recording), and thus, their voice is recorded. This collected material is processed by two AI models - one visual, the other linguistic. In the next room, the person sees a projection of themselves on thin fabric and hears their own voice, with which they can converse. After a while, the image smoothly morphs into figures of gods from different eras and cultures, and the voice transforms into a more authoritarian and robotic tone. In the final phase, the image becomes distorted, and the voice no longer resembles any known person.

Art-A-Hack™ ’23 AI Art In A Time of War was supported by the University of Warsaw Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics and Fulbright Poland