Poisoning Reality

Nikki Böhler , Céline Nauer

Englisch
Installation
Kunst & Kultur
#KI #Disinformation #Data
A pink moth with a yellow quiff
Info
'Poisoning Reality' is an effort to reclaim a glimpse of control over the digital information landscape. The art duo t8y manipulates data used to train generative AI by creating a new visual identity for the moth Neopalpa donaldtrumpi. Visitors are invited to join the live data-poisoning experiment.

'Poisoning Reality' explores how easily reality can be distorted when AI systems learn from data that anyone can manipulate. The art duo t8y creates a new visual identity for the rarely documented moth Neopalpa donaldtrumpi by attaching Trump‑style hair to different moth species and uploading the images online as if they were genuine. These images are placed on platforms likely to feed into generative AI training sets, a method known as “data poisoning.” Since 2024, t8y has documented how public AI models gradually reproduce their fabricated version of the insect. The project raises an unsettling question: who else might be shaping AI results without our awareness? Visitors are invited to participate by photographing the altered moths and sharing the images. Through this subversive and collective act of data poisoning, the artwork shifts the power dynamic and offers a sense of democratic agency within an opaque and seemingly uncontrollable information landscape.

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