Abstract
AI technology is satiating our most valuable human sense: sight. This transformative technology can produce extraordinarily complex prompt-based images of limitless subject matter. We are at the cusp of AI’s role in finding a majority strong hold over future museum content as it will allow for strategic awareness and greater “edutainment,” while also contributing to elevated visitor experiences. While the technology’s ability to paint a vision of the future is remarkable, the authors explore what it can do for the past…recreating the past for a renewed visceral appreciation. On a bicycle ride through Mississippi a decade ago, my party and I discovered historic Mt. Locust, a thriving cotton plantation that existed through the early to mid-1800s. On the west side of the property, a cemetery holds the remains of 43 enslaved people who endured the bondage of slavery and forced labor at the site. The only indication of a burial site is a wooden plaque that lists known souls who lie in peace. Using historical and regional data along with AI technology, the authors aim to create a series of iterative portraits to generate conceptual faces for several of the names of the buried enslaved inscribed on the wooden plaque at Mt. Locust. Associating a face to a name will hopefully raise awareness of these sites of sensitivity, and potentially usher in an innovative approach to historical interpretation in museums. As a case study, the authors also question its appropriateness as an ethical tool for awareness.
Presenters
Torrey TracyAssistant Professor, Interior Architecture and Design, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, Arkansas, United States Daria Hall
Student, Bachelor’s of Interior Architecture , University of Arkansas, Arkansas, United States David Baird
Professor, Architecture, University of Nevada Las Vegas, College of Fine Arts, Nevada, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Artificial Intelligence, Enslaved, Mt. Locust, Mississippi, Portraits
