5 June 2025, AI, Culture, and Society Seminar, Dr Noa Garcia

#5 - Generative Models and Art Analysis: New Tools, Old Biases: 5 June 2025, ASP L1.07, 15:30-17:00
Speaker: Dr Noa Garcia (Osaka University)

Title: Generative Models and Art Analysis: New Tools, Old Biases

Abstract: Image generation has transformed how we create and engage with visual content, offering new tools and opportunities for art historical analysis. However, text-to-image models frequently rely on implicit assumptions that reinforce social stereotypes. In this talk, we will explore this duality: on one hand, the potential of image generation methods to enable novel computational approaches to painting analysis; while on the other hand, how these tools contribute to the perpetuation of unfairness and discrimination. By examining the technical challenges of quantifying societal stereotypes in generated imagery, we will also see how synthetic images can affect the development of future computer vision models.

Bio: Noa Garcia is an associate professor at the Institute for Advanced Co-Creation Studies and D3 Center, The University of Osaka, Japan. She completed her Ph. D in Computer Science from Aston University, United Kingdom, specializing in multimodal retrieval and instance-level recognition. Her research investigates the artistic and social implications of AI through a technical lens, focusing on image analysis and generation.