Re-imagining Conflicts, Making Up Futures: AI-Generated Images and the Memorability of War

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Mario Panico delivers a seminar on their research -

This seminar will present the first results of my research project on the use of artificial intelligence-generated imagery in contemporary conflict contexts. Through examples drawing from contemporary wars, I will address two questions: (i) how these visual texts activate specific emotional rhetorics, iconographic patterns and memorial references. In this part, I will focus on the notion of the “archive of the present” and how AI images draw on pre-existing visual heritage to appear authentic and culturally credible, redefining what is perceived as “memorable”; ii) how the future is “prescribed”: looking at how temporalities are reconstructed through the representation of future scenarios, between coping, predictions and collective avoidance.

Arrivals from 11:45 am for a 12:00 noon start. For those joining in-person, lunch will be served after the seminar from 1:00pm.

This event is hybrid format, please use the required booking button at the bottom of the page to choose either in-person or online attendance.
(Please note that in-person spaces are limited and booking is required, so we can manage numbers for catering and also the space in the seminar room)

By booking a place at this event, attendees agree to behave in a respectful manner such that everyone feels comfortable contributing as they wish. The IAS reserves the right to eject anyone who does not abide by this policy.

IAS seminars are typically recorded, minus any Q&A sessions at the end, again to encourage contributions. The recordings are then uploaded to our website on a Fellows bio page and/or Programme page, along with our IAS YouTube Channel. If you are not able to attend a seminar live, please do still register as we will email everyone who registered to let them know once the recordings are made available.