A select group of artists an AI-focused interdisciplinary team at Google set out to reshape the narrative around AI imagery by commissioning three artists—Charlie Engman, Farah Al Qasimi, and Max Pinckers—to create speculative photography imagining the near-future impacts of this world-changing technology. The goal was to move beyond conventional, abstract visual stereotypes and to center people; to evoke new ways of thinking about AI by focusing on human relationships and societal outcomes rather than depicting specific technologies. Through speculative photography—which demands context—the project emphasizes diverse artistic perspectives and opens up broader public discussions on AI’s role in society.
Farah Al Qasimi
On the artist: Farah Al Qasimi creates photographs, films, and music, often with large-scale vinyl imagery and varied prints. Her work explores internet hierarchies and storytelling in children’s cartoons, and many of her video works feature anthropomorphized narrators. Her collaborative practice has included puppets, falcons, African land snails, exorcists, and a Jack Sparrow impersonator.
More about the work: “These photographs are about seeking connection and intimacy through enhancing our knowledge about the world around us. I am imagining the ways in which our understanding of the natural world—and of each other—might surpass language or description and instead take the form of a feeling or a knowing. For example, I cannot speak with my dog, but I might know through her behavior if she is unwell, and I can seek greater clarification with medical imaging and diagnostic tests. But I can also dream of a world in which care and empathy are expanded in previously impossible ways. These photographs do not attempt to overstate the presence of technology; rather, they seek to show how we may form exploratory connections that expand beyond the limitations of a screen.”
Charlie Engman
On the artist: Charlie Engman, an artist, educator, and art director at sustainable fashion brand Collina Strada, blends principle with irreverence in his work, pushing the limits of traditional image-making. A leader in AI-generated art, Engman has a diverse portfolio that includes projects for The New Yorker and Vogue, as well as for brands such as Prada and Gucci. He has authored several books and holds a degree in Japanese and Korean studies from the University of Oxford.
More about the work: In January 2024, Charlie visited Accra, Ghana, to speak to locals about their perceptions of AI. Most of the people Charlie interviewed were connected to his work with the Or Foundation, an NGO working at the intersection of environmental justice, education, and fashion development; many of the conversations centered around the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of waste colonialism and global commerce. Charlie employed Midjourney to create the images, using photographs he shot on location as prompts. The people in the images are digital representations of fictitious Ghanaians engaging in hypothetical scenarios, as envisioned by the interview participants.
Max Pinckers
On the artist: Max Pinckers produces images that are lively, poetic, and unexpected, blending research, preparation, and improvisation to push the boundaries of documentary photography. He holds a doctorate in the arts, teaches at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent, Belgium, co-founded Lyre Press and the School of Speculative Documentary, and has won several prestigious awards, including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award.
More about the work: By infusing everyday scenes with speculative elements and surreal interventions, this work creates a space where the presence of AI models is both palpable and enigmatic. These photographs serve as portals into a world where the lines between reality and imagination blur, inviting viewers to contemplate the evolving role of AI in shaping our perceptions and interactions with the external world. Through staged compositions and symbolic imagery, this series of images seeks to illuminate the nuanced complexities of our relationship with AI, sparking new insights and perspectives along the way.
