Envisioning Ancestors with AI

Imagine ancestors who would never have had their portrait painted or photograph taken in this hands-on workshop. Participants will experiment with Artificial Intelligence image-generating tools using descriptions from historic records. The first hour will introduce Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative project and historic records in the Library’s collections describing free Black and multiracial people, allowing participants to search within these records. The second hour includes an introduction to AI image generation, including the ethics and limitations, and a demonstration of three free AI image-generation tools. In the remaining hour, participants will explore the tools and experiment with generating images of Black and multiracial people described in historic records. The workshop concludes with a discussion of the results and the user experience of working with AI to visualize these Virginians.

Participants may either bring their own historic records describing ancestors or use a description from the Virginia Untold records during the hands-on portion. For more information, contact Lydia Neuroth at lydia.neuroth@lva.virginia.gov or 804-692-3772.

This is a free event. Registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/11622427