Semantic Attractors, Bias, and Distributed Creativity: Images and Authorship in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is radically transforming the production and perception of images, raising new questions about authorship, style, originality, and responsibility. Starting from an analysis of generative text-to-image and text-to-video models, the lecture unfolds along three conceptual axes:

1. The role of semantic attractors: words or concepts that guide visual generation by acting as gravitational poles of meaning;

2. The ethical and aesthetic biases implicit in datasets and algorithmic filters, inevitable insofar as they mirror our own prejudices;

3. The notion of distributed creativity, which deconstructs the idea of the author as an isolated individual and instead recognizes the network of actors (both human and non-human) involved in the construction of the image.

The lecture, curated by Francesco D’Isa, weaves together philosophical, semiotic, and technical perspectives, offering a critical and practical reflection on how to use these tools consciously, without succumbing either to technological hype or to a priori rejection. Designed for scholars, artists, and cultural practitioners, it invites a shift in perspective: not only to ask what AI does, but what it tells us about how we construct meaning, aesthetics, and collective memory today.

The lecture will be held in Italian.