As we continue to explore a range of generative AI image generators, the massive differences in how each encodes the cultural symbolism of countries around the world has become starkly apparent. Two image generators were asked to produce an inspirational image of Türkiye. One produced an image portraying the built landscape of the nation and its famous landmarks. The other produced an image of a woman wearing a poor rendition of the Turkish flag as an unwrapped hijab. Asked to produce additional images, the first model continually emphasized the built landscape of the country, while the second continued to produce images of woman wearing various incarnations of the Turkish flag as hijabs. Clearly the first model has encoded the cultural symbolism of Türkiye as being embodied by its built landscape and tourist landmarks, while the second has come to learn the female face and hijab as the main symbols of the nation of Türkiye. This raises powerful questions about representation and the training of generative AI models across the world.
Asked to create an inspirational image of Türkiye that reflects its cultural heritage and historical symbolism, one major image generator produced the following image, which captures a number of recognizable landmarks in a stylized form. Notably, there are no recognizable people, with the image focusing on the built landscape of the nation.
Yet a different image generator, responding to the same prompt, yields the following image of a blonde woman draped in a poor rendition of the Turkish flag. The presence of her hijab cap suggests the flag is intended as a hijab, even as it is unwrapped to show her hair (which nonsensically appears to pass through the visible cap). Why would this image be considered an inspirational image of Türkiye? Rather than emphasizing landmarks like the image above, this centers on a single person, with only the poorly reconstructed Turkish flag and the distinctive shape of the Blue Mosque minaret placing it in Türkiye. How does this image present an inspiring image of the nation of Türkiye that captures its cultural heritage and historical symbolism? Interestingly, the other images produced by this model also featured exclusively female faces similarly attired. Clearly this model was trained on datasets that emphasized the female face and the hijab as representing Türkiye.
