Artificial intelligence culture and reproduction of popular culture through artificial intelligence: A research on the visual content production generated with artificial intelligence

Abstract

In the literature, although the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently researched in the fields of engineering, and also examined by social scientists, it has been seen a lack of definition regarding AI’s role in the production of cultural creative content. In this direction, the study has aimed to present an approach suggesting that content generated with AI creates its own unique culture; the term “artificial intelligence (AI) culture” has been chosen to understand this cultural foundation. Additionally, the study has scrutinized the commodity circulation of AI culture expressed in the study from the perspective of critical political economy. In the study, in line with qualitative and quantitative research methods, the grounded theory research design within the scope of exploratory content analysis and the method of reaching from concrete theory to grounded theory have been used. In the study, visual contents generated with AI shared on Instagram have been analyzed. In line with the definition of the concept of “AI culture” and the research findings, it has been observed that the content produced with AI creates a dynamic cultural system, and that popular culture is also reproduced within this system.

Keywords

• artificial intelligence
• artificial intelligence culture
• culture and dijital transformation
• culture ındustry
• popular culture

Yapay zekâ kültürü ve popüler kültürün yapay zekâ üzerinden yeniden üretimi: Yapay zekâ ile üretilen görsel içerik üretimi üzerine bir araştırma

Öz

Literatürde, yapay zekâ (YZ) kavramının ontolojisi doğrultusunda mühendislik alanlarında sıklıkla araştırıldığı ve sosyoloji, antropoloji ve iletişim bilimcileri tarafından incelenen iletişim ve kültür çalışmaları kapsamında çeşitli kaynaklar bulunduğu gözlemlense de, YZ’nin kültürel yaratıcı içerik üretimindeki rolüne ilişkin bir tanım eksikliği olduğu görülmektedir. Bu doğrultuda çalışma, YZ ile üretilen içeriklerin kendine özgü bir kültür oluşturduğuna dair bir yaklaşım sunmayı amaçlamış; bu kültürel zemini kavramak için “yapay zekâ (YZ) kültürü” ifadesi tercih edilmiştir. Ayrıca çalışmada ifade edilen YZ kültürünün meta dolaşımı, eleştirel ekonomi politik perspektifle incelenmiştir. Çalışmada, karma yöntem araştırması yapılmıştır. Bu amaçla keşfedici içerik analizi kapsamında gömülü teori araştırma deseni ile somut teoriden gömülü teoriye ulaşma yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada bir çeşit sosyal medya ağı olan Instagram uygulamasında YZ kullanarak içerik üretenler ve bu içerik üreticileri tarafından paylaşılan görsel içerikler kategorileştirilerek analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada tanımlanan YZ kültürü kavramının araştırma bulguları doğrultusunda YZ ile üretilen içeriklerin kendine ait dinamik bir kültür sistemi oluşturduğu, aynı zamanda bu sistem içerisinde popüler kültürün de yeniden üretildiği görülmüştür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• yapay zekâ
• yapay zekâ kültürü
• kültür endüstrisi
• popüler kültür
• kültür ve dijital dönüşüm

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