Using AI for this required extensive contemplation of how to best represent myself. Adobe Express struggled with integrating many elements at once, making it difficult to generate a single selfie that encompassed the various and complex aspects of my existence. Instead, I created 3 photos representing different versions of myself while keeping my initial physical description, including brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin the same.
The first image was inspired by the information available to the public through LinkedIn, sharing only my professional side. I couldn’t describe certain parts of myself and expect AI to figure out how to represent them, I instead had to carefully articulate how each element should be implemented. Rather than saying “ a girl who works for Alberta’s government” I needed to chose how that would best be physically manifested and ask for Alberta’s Legislature in the background.
The second image showed a version of myself seen by my friends and family through Facebook or Instagram, which display highlight reels of my life - mainly travelling (hence the mountains and lake) and at social events (hence the drink). The photo turned out feeling like a person I aspired to be, rather than the human I really was.
The last photo represented me in private; illustrating the larger emotional, social, and political issues that dominate my life. For example, grappling with spirituality (hence the Buddha statue), overwhelmed by my responsibility to stay informed (hence headphones), desperate to use my talents (such as writing, hence the notebook) to improve the world. Ultimately, when I was more raw in my prompt, I generated a photo that told a more interesting and thoughtful story that genuinely felt like me - but doing so required extreme intentionality to be transparent and self-reflective, which the internet often lacks.
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