Deborah Lupton frames collage as an AI resistance tactic
TL;DR
- Deborah Lupton built the collages in Canva Pro and deliberately avoided any generative AI service.
- The work pairs public-domain heritage images with contemporary AI rhetoric to link past technological anxieties to current ones.
- Lupton frames the output as scholarship, public engagement, and a tool for building 'critical AI literacy.'
Deborah Lupton built her AI critique in Canva Pro and refused to touch a generative AI service while doing so. In a new article in Springer's AI and Ethics journal, Lupton frames that choice itself as part of the method. She pairs heritage images drawn from public-domain collections with language pulled from contemporary AI discourse.
The point, she writes, is to "surface these meanings and feelings and examine what they reveal" about how generative AI gets talked about now. The visual language is deliberately "surprising, sometimes mordant or absurd" rather than realist, aiming to disrupt the generic imagery AI tools already produce in abundance.
The pairings connect past technological anxieties to present ones: labor exploitation, environmental damage, and profit-driven innovation. Lupton positions the collages as critical scholarship, public engagement material, and a pedagogical tool for building what she calls "critical AI literacy."
Two of the researchers we track shared the piece the week it went live.
Shared on Bluesky by 2 AI experts
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"With these collages, I am attempting to provoke thought about how linguistic and visual rhetorical devices are used to describe generative AI," writes @dalupton.bsky.social. Less industry-aligned AI literacy and more …
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Originally reported by link.springer.com
Read the original article →Original headline: Critical collaging as an AI resistance strategy - AI and Ethics