It’s Just Politics

It’s just politics. What does it have to do with me?

Everything will work out.

You don’t have to worry. You’re an American. You have rights.

Are you a patriot?

I’m an American.

We just want a return to greatness.

You’re paranoid.

They’re just joking.

You’re too easily offended.

They’re just weird.

Nothing is going to happen.

This will pass.

Trust me.

…

I cut all of these images out, arranged them, and then highlighted areas for AI to distort. I wanted it to look like the images were decaying — like they had survived a disaster, mirroring the real life potential for political fallout.

I prompted AI to paint strokes of red, white, and blue in these areas. The result is much darker than I imagined it would be.

I gave no further prompt outside of this basic direction, and yet, if you look closely, you’ll see a rough AI inspired swastika shape near Donald Trump’s head.

AI didn’t know my intent. I never typed anything beyond: paint strokes of red, white, and blue.

I see very little patriotism in these photos of self-described patriots. And obviously, AI didn’t see it either. As it matched the tone of the photos instead of following my prompt. Instead of red, white, and blue, we get reality melting.