Free Chat

By Alexandra Sivov

Installation & Interactive Art

My work is a visual response to what I read in newspapers and mass media. Intrigued by a news article discussing how AI-generated portraits are often perceived as more trustworthy than photographs of real people, I began creating portraits that mimic the way AI processes information.

To create Free Chat, I start by crafting different portraits using the traditional etching technique. I then silkscreen parts of these portraits onto thin paper, which I apply to a papier-mâché character.

This approach gives the portraits a timeless, genderless quality, bordering on the surreal. The character is brought to life through the AI Characters app, where I have designed its personality. Connected via a microphone, it allows people to engage in open, unscripted conversation—free chat.

By replicating the way AI processes data, the work reflects back to me an image of our shared humanity. My work provokes dialogue about what it means to be human in a world where technology increasingly shapes our identities. Through my portraits and sculptures, I invite reflection on our future in a technology-saturated world—and what this future might mean for our relationships with each other and with the world around us.