For this project I wanted to use machine learning as a way to understand how the machine sees, processes and recreates symbolic elements. By training a model with a dataset of carnations and another model with a dataset of typically Portuguese buildings, I aim to shine a light on the symbol of freedom in the eyes of the machine. How do machines see the symbols? What do they represent? What new elements contribute to the distortion of messages, or to the limits of speech expression? These are some of the questions raised by this project. With the 47th anniversary of the Freedom Day, I hope to open the dialogue on the interception between technology and the world around it.

In 25Abrilsempre (25April_always) I wanted to reinforce the idea that, regardless of the quality of the data we feed the machine, the results will always have an element of distortion and that it is up to us, the people who work with these technologies, to have the maximum responsibility with the information we select during the model training. The way the carnations were recreated during the long hours of training showed me the abstract and unexpected way the machine interprets the visual information present in the dataset. However, I feel that the textures and fragments present in the resulting images turn out to be a visual metaphor for the fragility of our privacy in this current digital age. In addition, they portray how vulnerable our free speech is during the rapid development of new technologies, namely in the field of artificial intelligence. It was also during the waiting time during the training that made me reflect on the way we often delegate and wait for the decision of the other, whether it be in other people, big corporations, governments. Sometimes it is easy to forget the power of our voice and our decision when we have devices that completely influence what we are going to see, read, hear, eat.