Digital Atatürk, Collective Memory, and Political Longing: A Sociological Analysis of AI-Generated Representation of Atatürk on YouTube

Year 2025, Volume: 45 Issue: 1, 386 - 422, 30.06.2025

Alptekin Keskin

Abstract

This study investigates the sociopolitical and affective implications of an AI-generated simulation of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, published on the Siber Sörfçü YouTube channel. In the context of contemporary Turkey’s political crises, leadership vacuum, and collective memory anxieties, the AI Atatürk video has sparked intense public attention. Based on a qualitative thematic analysis of 1,852 user comments, the study identifies four central themes: (1) Those Who Felt Emotions and Those Who Miss Atatürk, reflecting viewers’ nostalgic and affective engagement; (2) Comparison with the Present and the Permanence of Atatürk’s Ideas, highlighting how Atatürk is invoked as a moral and political benchmark against contemporary dissatisfaction; (3) Supporters of Artificial Intelligence Leadership, where some viewers symbolically support AI-led governance as a response to perceived failures of human leadership; and (4) Appreciation of Technical Achievement, demonstrating admiration for the simulation’s realism, innovation, and immersive quality. Rather than isolated reactions, these themes are intertwined, revealing how AI functions as both a commemorative and speculative political tool. Drawing on theories of collective memory (Halbwachs), social construction of reality (Berger and Luckmann), digital nostalgia (Niemeyer & Keightley), and algorithmic power (Beer), the study shows how AI-mediated representations of historical figures serve as emotional and symbolic responses to current sociopolitical conditions.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence, social construction of reality, Atatürk, algorithmic power, spiral of silence, collective memory

References

• Adoni, H., & Mane, S. (1984). Media and the social construction of realitY: toward an inteGration of theorY and research. Communication Research, 11(3), 323-340. Https://doi.orG/10.1177/009365084011003001 google scholar
• Alalaq, A. S. (2025a). RevivinG historY diGitallY: UtilizinG artificial intelliGence technoloGies in reconstructinG the past. Open Access Journal of Medicine and HeAlthcAre, 1 (1), 1-9. google scholar
• Alalaq, A. S. (2025b). SimulatinG historical fiGures throuGh artificial intelliGence. Creative Commons,1-14. Doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23909.31207 google scholar
• Askay, D. A. (2014). Silence in the Crowd: The spiral of silence contributinG to the positive bias of opinions in an online review system. New Media & Society, 17(11), 1811-1829 google scholar
• Assmann, J. (1995). Collective MemorY and Cultural ldentity. New German Critique, 65, 125-133. google scholar
• Bayraktar, F. (2024). Atatürk'ün Giysilerinin İncelenmesi ve Yapay Zekâ ile Giydirilmesi Üzerine Bir Araştırma. Korkut Ata Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 15, 1138-1156. https://doi.orG/10.51531/korkutataturkiYat.1422107 google scholar
• Beer, D. (2009). Power throuGh the alGorithm? Participatory web cultures and the technoloGical unconscious. New Media & Society, 11(6), 985-1002. https://doi.orG/10.1177/1461444809336551 google scholar
• Beer, D. (2017).The social power of alGorithms. Information, Communication & Society, 20(1), 1-13. google scholar
• BerG, B. L. (2001). Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Pearson. google scholar
• BerGer P. L. ve Luckmann, T. (2015). Gerçekliğin Sosyal İnşâsı (V. S. Öğütle, Çev.). ParadiGma Yayıncılık. google scholar
• BerGer, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Anchor Books. google scholar
• BerGer, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (2015). Modernite, Çoğulculuk ve Anlam Krizi: Modern İnsanın Yönelimi (M. D. Dereli, Çev.). Heretik YaYınları. google scholar
• Borch, C. (2022). Machine learninG and social theorY: Collective machine behaviour in alGorithmic tradinG. European Journal of Social Theory, 25(4), 503-520. https://doi.orG/10.1177/13684310211056010 google scholar
• Borch, C., & Min, B. H. (2023). Machine learninG and social action in markets: From first- to second-Generation automated tradinG. Economy and Society, 52(1), 37-61. google scholar
• Bora, T., & Onaran, B. (2003). Nostalji ve Muhafazakârlık: "Mâzi Cenneti". ln Modern Türkiye'de Siyasi Düşünce: Muhafazakârlık (Cilt 5, ss. 234-260). İstanbul: İletişim YaYınları. google scholar
• BoYm, S. (2001). The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books. google scholar
• Burt, R. S. (2001). Bandwidth and Echo: Trust, information, and gossip in social networks. ln A. Casella & J. E. google scholar Rauch (Eds.), Networks and Markets: Contributions from Economics and Sociology (pp. 30-74). Russell SaGe Foundation. google scholar
• Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. SAGE Publications. google scholar
• CouldrY, N., & Hepp, A. (2016). The Mediated Construction of Reality. Polity Press. google scholar
• Davis, F. (1979). Yearning for Yesterday: A Sociology of Nostalgia. Free Press. google scholar
• Dedeoğlu, G. (2006). Bilişim Toplumu ve Etik Sorunlar. Alfa Akademi. google scholar
• EYnon, R., & YounG, E. (2021). MethodoloGY, leGend, and rhetoric: The constructions of Al bY academia, industrY, and policY Groups for lifelonG learninG. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 46(1), 166-191. google scholar
• Gürel, E.(2023). Dijital medyada siyasal iletişim ve Z kuşağı üniversite öğrencileri: İstanbul özelinde çevrimiçi siyasal katılım üzerine bir araştırma. (Doktora Tezi). Maltepe Üniversitesi SosYal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul. google scholar
• Habermas, J. (2023). A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics. PolitY Press. lSBN: 978-1-5095-5893-3. google scholar
• Halbwachs, M. (1980). The Collective Memory (F. J. Ditter & V.Y. Ditter, Trans.). Harper & Row. google scholar
• Halbwachs, M. (1992). On Collective Memory. (L. A. Coser, Trans.). ChicaGo: UniversitY of ChicaGo Press. Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. Duke University Press. google scholar
• Karapekmez, A. V. (2023). YapaY zekânın Görsel sanatlara etkisi: YapaY zekâ ile üretilen Atatürk portrelerinin içerik analizi. Yeni Yüzyıl'da İletişim Çalışmaları Dergisi, 2(8), 184-189. google scholar
• Keskin, A. (2024). YapaY zekâ, müzik ve nostalji ilişkisi: Youtube'da "atamızın sesinden maGusa limanı" videosunun analizi. İstanbul Arel Üniversitesi İletişim Çalışmaları Dergisi, 13(26), 301-328. google scholar
• Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. google scholar
• Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoninG. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 480-498. https://doi.orG/10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480 google scholar
• Lash, S. (2007). Power after heGemony: Cultural studies in mutation?. Theory, Culture and Society, 24(3), 55-78. https://doi.orG/10.1177/02632764070759 google scholar
• Liu, X., & Fahmy, S. (2011). Exploring the spiral of silence in the virtual world: ındividuals’ willingness to express personal opinions in online versus offline settinGs. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 3(2), 45-57. google scholar
• Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford University Press. google scholar
• Lundahl, O. (2022). AlGorithmic meta-capital: Bourdieusian analYsis of social power throuGh alGorithms in media consumption. Infor-mation, Communication & Society, 25(10), 1440-1455. https://doi.orG/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1864006 google scholar
• MacKenzie, D. (2021). Cookies, pixels and finGerprints. London Review of Books, 1 April. Available at: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/ v43/n07/donald-mackenzie/cookies-pixels-and-finGerprints google scholar
• Mead, G. H. (2015). Mind, Self, and Society. University of ChicaGo Press. google scholar
• NiemeYer, K., & KeiGhtley, E. (2020). The commodification of time and memory: Online communities and the dYnamics of commerciallY produced nostalGia. New Media & Society, 22(9), 1639-1662. https://doi.orG/10.1177/1461444820914869 google scholar
• Noelle-Neumann, E. (1974). The spiral of silence: A theorY of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24(2), 43-51. https://doi.orG/10. 1111/j.1460-2466.1974.tb00367.x google scholar
• ÖzYürek, Esra. (2006). Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey. Duke UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Porten-Chee, P., & Eilders, C. (2015). Spiral of silence Online: How Online communication affects opinion climate perception and opinion expression reGardinG the climate chanGe debate. Studies in Communication Sciences 15, 143-150. https://doi.orG/10.1016/j.scoms. 2015.03.002 google scholar
• Schwartz, R. D. (1989). Artificial intelliGence as a socioloGical phenomenon. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 14(2), 179-202. google scholar
• Stemler, S. (2001). An overview of content analYsis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(1), 17. doi: https://doi.orG/10.7275/z6 fm-2e34 google scholar
• Timmermans, S., & Tavory, l. (2012). Theory construction in qualitative research: From Grounded theory to abductive analysis. Socio-logical Theory, 30(3), 167-186. https://doi.org/l0.1177/0735275112457914 google scholar
• Tuncer, R. Z. (2016). Suskunluk Sarmalı Kuramını SosYal MedYa Üzerinden Yeniden Düşünmek. A. M. Kırık ve A. BüYükaslan ‘Ed.), Gözetlenen Toplumdan Gözetlenen Bireye Sosyal Medya içinde (s. 123-144). ÇizGi Kitabevi. google scholar
• Wohn, D. Y. & Bowe, B. J., (2014, February). Crystallization: How social media facilitates social construction of realitY”, ln Proceedings of the Companion Publication of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing, s.261- 264, doi:10.1145/2556420.2556509. Baltimore, MarYland, USA google scholar
• Wolfe, A. (1991). Mind, self, society, and computer: Artificial intelliGence and the sociology of mind. American Journal of Sociology, 96(5), 1073-1096. google scholar
• WoolGar, S. (1985). WhY not a SocioloGY of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial lntelliGence. Sociology, 19(4), 557-572. https:// doi.orG/10.1177/0038038585019004005 google scholar
• Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs google scholar