All Eyes on AI
In recent days it has become next to impossible to escape one particular image on social media. By Wednesday evening it seemed to be ubiquitous, popping up between movie reviews, recipes, and photos from the vacation of a girl you went to high school with.
The image shows a city of tents, neatly arranged on the orange sand, set against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains merging into the blue horizon. “All Eyes on Rafah” is spelled out using white tents on the ground. The share button on the lower end of the image invites the viewer to “add yours”, and indeed, at the time of writing, over 45 million people have chosen to click on that button. Many of whom, having up until now not posted anything related to the war, are happily joining this social media campaign. The “add yours” function of Instagram is normally used to “add your own” photo, song, or video according to a certain theme or question. Only now, the image shared through that function remains the same, again and again, over 45 million times. The share function has turned into a collective call to action that can be executed in a split second.
But even AI images are generated somewhere: The creator of this particular one is a young Malaysian photographer, whose public Instagram profile displays even more images and videos in the style of the one that went viral. But he doesn’t just rely on AI: among his other “templates” is a screenshot from Google Maps, where he crossed out “Israel” and instead scribbled “Palestine” over the country, while another one reads “time to reverse the map”.
I have to assume that people publishing the “All Eyes on Rafah” image either support that message or simply do not care for its origin. It does not matter that it is AI-generated, people say, it’s about the message. It does not matter that the creator of the image is a raging anti-Semite who wants to eradicate the entire state of Israel, they claim, since the image itself is not problematic. But even if that were true, an image so far removed from its creative origin and intention has become totally inimical to any concept like compassion or human sympathy.
People participating in this campaign are so completely disconnected from the actual horrors of the war, that they find themselves able to resort to the lowest form of virtue-signaling, not for what is right but for what is easy. It is apathy disguised as morality. Many people unaffected by this war seem to not comprehend that it is not an invitation to participate and cheer for your favorite team on social media. That finding yourself in a state of dismay is nothing to be “solved” by participating in yet another superficial campaign that does nothing to amplify and support the voices of anyone. Over the last few months, we have witnessed how language and slogans have been slowly hollowed out, with people mindlessly echoing phrases without understanding their significance. How many have been shouting “From the river to the sea” without being able to name either body of water? The comment section of any random public figure’s social media account has been flooded with watermelon emojis, sometimes in support and sometimes in protest of said person – all that with a mere stand-in that does not even require the poster to identify the correct flag before hitting send. At this point, I want to be shocked by people actually standing behind the message of the image’s creator, but I find it hard to be surprised by anything.
This latest campaign takes place shortly after gruesome videos depicting the fate of the young Israeli women abducted to Gaza have been made public. But most people have remained silent on this, maybe because having to look into the faces of actual human beings might make you have to confront your own humanity. Photographers, artists, writers, and musicians have for months now tried to find words for the unspeakable, inviting us to bear witness to human suffering and bringing shape to grief, fear, and yes, compassion. But instead, millions of people, including artists and creatives, are being moved by an egregious example of AI imagery with a questionable backstory.
