When Generative AI Goes to the Museum: Visual Stereotyping of Curators and Museum Spaces

Abstract

Based on 350 visualizations, this paper examines the depiction of museum curators by the popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, ChatGPT4o. While the AI-generated representations do not reiterate popular stereotypes of curators as nerdy, conservative in dress, and stuck in time, rummaging through collections, they contrast sharply with real-world demographics. AI-generated imagery severely under-represents women (3.5% vs. 49–72% in reality) and disregards ethnic communities outside of Caucasian communities (0% vs. 18–36%). It not only over-represents young curators (79% vs. approx. 27%) but also renders curators to resemble yuppie professionals or people featured in fashion advertising. Stereotypical attributes are prevalent, with curators widely depicted as having beards and holding clipboards or digital tablets. The findings highlight biases in the generative AI image creation data sets, which are poised to shape an inaccurate portrayal of museum professionals if the images were to be taken uncritically at ‘face value’.

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