Although LLMs promise endless possibilities, online content is increasingly looking the same. In this talk, I argue that this unifying style is harmful; it tyrannises other graphic styles and, in doing so, may silence marginalised visual languages and the stories these languages can tell.
Based on Jacques Derrida’s (1998) concept of the ‘monolingualism of the other’, I argued earlier that ‘mainstream style’ videogame graphics promote a visual monolingualism similar to that of several European languages colonising parts of the world. Both these European languages and ‘mainstream style’ videogame graphics signal a ‘superior’ technological Western culture and dominate other languages that appear less technological.
In this talk, I revisit Derrida and draw on aestheFc concepts from videogame literature to argue that this visual monolingualism does not apply solely to videogame graphics but extends to digital imagery at large. LLMs accelerate visual monolingualism through algorithms’ inherent generalisations and their widespread use. Like ‘polished’ and ‘photorealisc’ videogame graphics, LLMs appeal to an idea of technological sophiscation and progress – even when expressed in ‘ugly’ memes and other fast-generated visual content. In addition, LLMs are easy to use. Their accessibility may present LLMs as empowering and democratising. However, like Derrida’s monolingual coloniser (one who does not recognise or respect the Other or their language), LLMs struggle to ‘speak’ a different visual accent. In reiterating the same graphic style, they fail to represent nonmainstream voices.
Speaker: Afra Willems