“What we are looking for with this application is imagination. For me, it is more about artificial imagination than artificial intelligence,” explains the graphic designer in an interview with AFP while showing how the Mid Journey application works, which recreates the possible faces of people who disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship.
This man, born in 1976, the year of the coup, has always felt challenged by the struggle of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, a human rights organization that has managed to restore the identity of 132 people appropriated as babies and is still looking for another 300 “grandchildren.” With a missing relative, he decided to use his skills with technological tools and artificial intelligence to fill a gap in the collective imagination.
Barros, a publicist and art director, began using artificial intelligence in this initiative a month ago. From black-and-white photos of the disappeared parents taken from the Abuelas portal, the application creates four possible faces. He chooses one of them and uploads it to an Instagram account called IAbuelas, seeking to impact the younger public in a new and understandable way.
Although he clarifies that the results are random and not definitive, Barros has achieved remarkable success with the account, attracting more than 6,300 followers in just one month. He has imagined around 40 identities corresponding to the babies stolen in 1976 and is already working on those from 1977.
The graphic designer believes that the scope of artificial intelligence is unsuspected and that, although one day it could be used to recognize people, the only infallible tool in these cases is DNA, where the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo are experts.
Although some have doubts about the use of artificial intelligence in this context, the initiative has been well received by the community and has managed to bring the problem of babies stolen during the dictatorship to a younger audience, using technological tools for a positive and humanitarian purpose.