The 6th BAIRAL Research Meeting for 2022
“Who is Ema?: Examining Representations of Race and Gender through Virtual Bodies Generated by AI”

◇BAIRAL（B’AI RA League）

BAIRAL (B’AI RA League) is a study group by young research assistants (RA) of the B’AI Global Forum of the Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo. Aiming to achieve gender equality and a guarantee of rights for minorities in the AI era, this study group examines relationships between digital information technology and society. BAIRAL organizes monthly research meetings with guest speakers in a variety of fields.

◇Date & Venue

・Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 18:00-19:30 (JST)

・Venue: Zoom Meeting（No registration required）

・Language: English

◇Guest Speaker

Hanako Lowry

(MA student, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo; Graduate Student Member, B’AI Global Forum)

◇Abstract

Hanako Lowry is a graduate student member of B’AI Global Forum and is currently studying at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, University of Tokyo.

She will discuss the possibilities of using AI as part of art-based methods to examine representations of race and gender through an introduction to her ongoing project, ema.

Featuring virtual bodies generated by AI trained on existing representations from our media landscape, ema employs AI in a speculative framework to consider how bias shapes how bodies are represented and designed and how this may escalate amid uncritical use of emerging technologies.

The discussion will cover the background to the project, the design process, conceptual challenges and a preview of the finished product. ema is due to be exhibited at this year’s iii exhibition at the University of Tokyo in November.

◇Organizer

B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo

◇Inquiry

Nozomi Ohtsuki (PhD Student, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo)

ohtsuki6nozomi[at]g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Please change [at] to @)

The 6th BAIRAL Research Meeting for 2022“Who is Ema?: Examining Representations of Race and Gender through Virtual Bodies Generated by AI”

The 6th BAIRAL Research Meeting for 2022
“Who is Ema?: Examining Representations of Race and Gender through Virtual Bodies Generated by AI”