Archival Images of AI Playbook
Creating better images of AI through digital heritageGlowing brains, humanoid robots, and cascading walls of code dominate AI imagery, portraying it with a mystical, almost god-like aura. These unhelpful and misleading tropes reinforce myths about AI’s power and purpose—and, now, AI-generated images are intensifying these narratives.
What if we could create images that tell more accurate and thoughtful stories?
That’s where our playbook comes in. Drawing from digital heritage collections, Archival Images of AI is a hands-on toolkit for anyone who wants to remix, reuse, and rethink AI imagery. Whether you’re a journalist, educator, designer, or community organizer, this playbook provides the tools, techniques, and inspiration to create visuals that break stereotypes and spark meaningful conversations about AI.
[TEAM]
[TIME]
Nov 2024
[ADVISORS]
Tania Duarte
Rasa Bočytė
[PARTNER]
Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision
A playbook for creating better images of AI
We invite you to play with Archival Images of AI: tear it, glue it, or rip it apart—make it your own. Download the playbook today and be part of the movement to create better images of AI!
WHAT'S INSIDE?
A step-by-step guide to creating better images of AI from digital heritage collections.
Tips for navigating digital archives and finding the “just-right” source material.
9 techniques for transforming existing images into new creations.
Tools and examples to inspire culturally informed storytelling.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Communicators, researchers, and organizers looking for an AI image that avoids harmful stereotypes.
Image-makers eager to remix and reuse public-domain imagery into new work.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
We curated a collection of images, cut-outs, and scrap materials to inspire and support your creative process as you remix open-sourced visuals to create better images of AI.
Each image has been handpicked by our team, commissioned image-makers, and workshop participants, as part of this project.
The images are sourced from open-access collections, including the Smithsonian, MoMA, Wikimedia, the New York Public Library, and public.work all of which are in the public domain. If you'd like to trace the original source or explore the context of any image, we recommend using Google Image Search.