As I started to think more about where I could see more about my research question I thought about the word “Digital Literacy”, when I first started out with this project I was focused on another group itself, which was the illterate, and I feel throughout the progress of this project, the aim remains the same, which is focused around digital literacy, to know more about this I decided to look at artworks based around the same topic.

Studio A: Sydney-based Studio A supports professional development pathways for artists living with intellectual disability. In 2022, 2 of Studio A’s artists – Thom Roberts, and Catherine McGuiness – were finalists in Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize, the Archibald. As a champion of “digital fluency”, Studio A in collaboration with Meeum is determined to remove the “geekery superiority” associated with technology – and has a clear message for other arts organisations looking to replicate Studio A’s success. “The Digital Strategist-in-Residence program proves that tech and digital is for everyone.”

Thom Roberts with his painting A Portriff of Adam (Shane Simpson AM) hanging in the 2021 Archibald Prize. Photo: Studio A, which aims to make people look through a different lense, and look at digital literacy witth a different lense.

Another work which I looked at was not an artwork but an experiment, Teaching Digital Literacy in the Context of AI Text-to-Art Generators by Neil Dixon, AI text-to-art generators democratize the creation of images and art. To generate an image, the user simply enters a text string that describes the content of the image, along with the style, resolution, and features. Softwares include, DALL E, Midjourney, Stable diffusion. To be better-informed about the role of AI text-to-art generators in society, digital literacy can promote consideration of the technology’s risks, capabilities, and limitations. Digital literacy means a person has sufficient knowledge and education to operate in the digital world, These technologies and their relationships are so complex that the way they function is outside most people’s understanding—we can only evaluate AI on the outputs it creates. Providing time to experiment with the technology is another way to develop or enhance digital literacy. We can improve our understanding of the capabilities and limitations, which means we can see the technology from the perspectives of artists, legislators, or developers. 

References:

https://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jan23/Dixon–Teaching-Digital-Literacy-in-the-Context-of-AI-Text-to-Art-Generators.shtml

http://www.meeum.com/articles/case-study/studio-a/