This conceptual project questions AI on the effect of our capitalist societal system on our mental health. But what kind of critique can an AI model formulate of a system from which it itself originates?

Because of it’s black-box attributes, I always perceived AI as devoid from context when in fact it too has an origin and a cultural context in which it has been created in. Viewed from a sociological perspective, therefore an analogy can be drawn to the concept of human socialization, the effect of our origin, upbringing, socio-economic status, etc. which ultimately leads us to see the world in a certain way, to make certain choices, to be sensitive to certain believes and values rather than others.

The result of this conceptual research is a conversation with SynthAI-X (also known as chatGPT) providing me with 10 image descriptions of 10 different situations that, according to it, would best represent the toll capitalism places on our mental health.

1. The Masked Face of Capitalism
2. The Constant Treadmill
3. The Lonely Crowd
4. The Weight of Debt
5. The Broken Dream
6. The Disposable Worker
7. The Illusion of Choice
8. The Mental Overload
9. The Weight of Expectations
10. The Broken System

I then went ahead and manually captures these 10 images by rigorously following the specific instructions. By doing so, this adds a second layer of socialization effect (my own) and at the same time questions the concept of authoriality in the photography and art world.