AInthropology is an experiment converging AI and Anthropology

The text-to-image ‘photographs’ were created in late 2023 as AI technology became widely available.  They are already ‘old’ AI photographs. The workings of the machinery can still be glimpsed.

The images mark a moment in time when AI pictures were imperfect, before the technology moved into providing the seamless AI outputs of today.

AI was prompted to recreate anthropological portraits – ethnographic-style images of cultural “types” echoing historical documentation.

AInthropology explores the ethical issues and inherent biases in technology. In the process it reveals a glimpse of AI’s take on humanity. 

The outputs are artificial constructs representing stolen identities and synthetic histories that seduce and mislead.

The pictures are published as an historical record. They are evidence of human misadventure in allowing AI to unwind our reality. 

The work sounds an alarm about the future of photography and human authenticity in an AI-dominated age.