New Topographics: Man-Altered Landscapes Become Machine-Altered Landscapes: An Examination of AI Generative Images - Interview questions to Craig Ames, artist

Script of Interview about Artificial Intelligence (AI) text-to-image software use to create visual outcomes which mimic known historical photographs of places in North America. Artist Craig Ames speaks to Martine Hamilton Knight about his work to create New Topographies, Images of an Algorithmic Landscape which was exhibited at 2023's Format23 Festival, Derby, UK. Ames's images raise questions about communication technology and knowledge creation. They provoke questions about the legal and ethical implications of AI generative images created by software programmes using vast photographic datasets. There is an urgent need for increased visual literacy, not simply within the realms of formal education, but across the general populus who are exposed to so-called 'photographs' across the public domain daily. These mimic known places and spaces, challenging perceived truths. Background: Ames's AI generative images using Stable Diffusion's Stability AI programme were based on photographs exhibited in New Topographics- Man-altered Landscapes Become Machine-altered Landscapes exhibition, held at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, 1975.