"With the emergence of generative AI, there no longer needs to be a human creator behind text or images," contemporary artist Trevor Paglen, 52, said in an interview at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, New York, on the 14th (local time). "In the past, we focused on filtering out misinformation. Now, we live in an era where we must identify what is 'real' on the assumption that all information may have been manipulated," he said, adding that he recently realized his way of thinking had completely changed while trying to understand the situation in the Iran war through social media.
Paglen pointed out that environments in which machines produce images for other machines — such as self-driving cars, factory automation systems, and airport facial recognition technology — have already become reality. "The phenomenon of machines creating images that humans never see can bring about major changes across culture, politics, and society," he said, emphasizing the need for social discussion to avoid negative consequences.
He has drawn global attention for work that visually exposes the surveillance structures and power relations built by AI and digital technology. His 2022 work "From 'Apple' to 'Anomaly'" demonstrated how biases learned by AI lead to discriminatory classification of people, while his earlier 2019 "ImageNet Roulette" project allowed audiences to participate directly and experience AI's distorted judgments firsthand.
In recognition of such work, he was selected as this year's recipient of the LG (003550) Guggenheim Award. The award, presented to artists who open new artistic possibilities through the use of technology, is the flagship collaborative program between LG and the Guggenheim Museum. "No one wants to create harmful technology, but such technology does exist," Paglen said. "This should not be left to the responsibility of individual developers alone — companies, users, and regulators must discuss it together."
On receiving the award, he said, "I hope my work can offer new inspiration to other artists." Paglen previously received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2017 and the Nam June Paik Art Center Prize in 2018. "My work is not done in the traditional manner of painting, but is research-driven and carried out through collaboration across various fields," he said, adding that he hopes this approach will lead to social contributions.
At a public lecture on the 18th, Paglen also emphasized the changing meaning of images in the AI era. "Photography originally had an 'indexicality' that connected it to actual events, but now the ability to determine whether an AI image is real has become more important," he said. "Democratic discourse is based on shared experience, but AI is shaking that reality itself," he warned.
