Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality
Speculative brainstorming and rapid prototyping of future AI scenarios using specially designed brainstorming cards, 2019-22
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality is an interactive workshop series designed to engage participants in the critical and imaginative spaces of AI-generated synthetic media. These workshops invite a diverse array of individuals to brainstorm and articulate their visions—ranging from speculative dreams to grounded concerns—about the impact and evolution of synthetic media. By collecting a spectrum of perspectives, the project constructs a collective narrative that navigates through utopian and dystopian futures, offering a nuanced exploration of potential use cases and ethical considerations. The workshops leverage a unique card set, categorizing influential deep learning models to stimulate rapid, speculative scenario creation. Participants are prompted to confront their subconscious biases, quickly adapting to AI tools through hands-on experience that positions them as active contributors to the shaping of synthetic realities.
The initiative first unfolded at the Ctrlz.AI Zine Fair in Barcelona, dovetailing with the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency to underscore the pertinence of ethical AI. Attendees delved into the state-of-the-art AI media synthesis with educational cards that distilled complex models into accessible, visual summaries. After acquainting themselves with these tools, groups harnessed the cards to prototype future applications of synthetic media, documenting their creative processes and "recipes" for potential outputs. In one notable session, participants envisioned a service for visualizing personal memories, a concept stretching from therapeutic applications to entertainment, showcasing the vast, positive potential of AI in media synthesis. These workshops not only demystify AI but also foster a multi-disciplinary dialogue, challenging binary perceptions of AI’s role in society and highlighting the intricate balance between technological capability and human creativity.
Workshops were held in physical as well as online space
50 cards, 90 x 140 mm, 300 g/m2 paper
The card deck, meticulously curated for the Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality project, categorized AI models into eight distinct classes: image synthesis, video synthesis, audio synthesis, text-based models, recognition, post-processing, workflow, and an innovative hybrid category that fuses image synthesis with post-processing. This tool has undergone continuous refinement over three years, with the most recent iteration, version 7.0, released in August 2022. While the deck has since ceased updates due to the swift evolution of AI towards more complex multimodal models that defy traditional categorization, it remains a valuable educational resource in my workshops, providing a quick and intuitive understanding of the creative AI landscape. To adapt to the changing technological advancements, I have since developed a more abstract brainstorming instrument, the 'Elements of Human-AI Co-Creation', which facilitates a broader exploration of the co-creative process between humans and AI.
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality
(2019-22)
The Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality card deck version 7.0 is still on sale: https://shop.hamosova.com/Collective-Vision-of-Synthetic-Reality-AI-models-brainstorming-cards-7-0-p491263943
Write-up from workshops: https://medium.com/@lenkahamosova/collective-vision-of-synthetic-reality-4ed02c01aaef
2021
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality / Digital Arts department, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, SK, 2021
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality / Umanesimo Artificiale, IT - online, 2021
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality / ČSOB, SK - online, 2021
AI & Syntetické obrazy / #Datamaze, DOX, Prague, CZ - online, 2021
AI & Syntetické obrazy | Scholastika, Prague, CZ - online, 2021
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality / Interactions 2021 Conference, IxDA - online, 2021
2020
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality | ML Ethics Team, Google - online, 2020
Syntetická budoucnost | Letní škola, Nahlížet dějiny, DOX, Prague, CZ, 2020
Kolektivní vize syntetické reality | Letní škola Občankářů 2020, DOX, Prague, CZ, 2020
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality / MA Future Design, Prague College, Prague, CZ, 2020
Collective Vision of Synthetic Reality /CtrlZ.AI Zine Fair, 2020 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAT*), Barcelona, ES, 2020