ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ R&D is collaborating on a project called βBetter images of AIβ to develop and distribute images representing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for anyone to use. We are working with , the and to launch the where you will find a collection of new, freely available images under Creative Commons licenses.
As we recently wrote, part of our research on explaining AI and ML technology has involved interrogating the use of stereotypical stock images to represent AI - the glowing blue brains and shiny white robots that you see in news stories and press releases. We don't think that these existing images actually represent the technologies of AI and ML that are in use and being developed today. Indeed, we think these images can be unhelpful stereotypes; they set unrealistic expectations, hinder wider understanding of the technology and potentially sow fear. Ultimately this affects public understanding and critical discourse around this increasingly influential technology.
The project aims to create and provide images that more realistically portray the technology and the people behind it, and point towards its strengths, weaknesses, context and applications. We aim to:
- Represent a wider range of humans and human cultures than just βcaucasian businesspersonβ
- Represent the human, social and environmental impacts of AI systems
- Reflect the realistically messy, complex, repetitive and statistical nature of AI systems
- Accurately reflect the capabilities of the technology; it is generally applied to specific tasks. It is not of human-level intelligence and does not have emotions
We won't show physical robotic hardware where there is none, we won't show electronic renders of human brains and we'll avoid monolithic or unknowable representations of AI systems.
In creating this new imagery we need to consider what makes a good stock image. Why do people use them and how? Is the image representing a particular part of the technology or is it trying to tell a wider story? What emotional response should the audience have when looking at it? Does it help people understand the technology and is it an accurate representation?
The project will be gathering images, commissioning original work and carrying out research to better understand the challenges of visually representing AI, and the reactions to these new images. In showcasing some alternative approaches we hope to inspire users, creators and commissioners of stock images to think more about what they are communicating and how this can be more authentically, inclusively and creatively represented.
We know that it will be difficult to change the clichΓ©s and tropes used to represent AI in media, culture and the popular imagination, and we know that just providing a set of stock images will only make a small dent, but we are hopeful that this effort will change this for the better.
The includes images commissioned by us and created by our design team and are available to download under a CC license. The image at the top of this post was created by and shows a young black man wearing a black coat staring past the camera in front of a blue cloudy sky. The scene is refracted in different ways by a fragmented glass grid. This grid is a visual metaphor for the way that new AI and machine learning technologies can be used to extract and analyse behavioural and demographic data in innovative ways. Some of the grid squares reveal graphical interpretations of the man that exceed the capabilities of human vision, indicating how cutting edge technologies offer ways to augment traditional human understandings of complex phenomena. A neural network diagram is overlaid, familiarising the viewer with the formal architecture of AI systems.
Please with the project if you'd like to help or want to know more.
Image credits
/ / Human /
/ / Banana / Plant / Flask /
/ / Handmade A.I /