Illness narratives in AI-generated images: Toward a theory of a new variant

Abstract

An evolving technology – artificial intelligence (AI) image generators – is engendering a new variant of illness narratives that calls into question the assertions made about their connections with preceding forms of art and image-making. The social sciences must interrogate and analyse the changes brought about by this technology, developing a comprehensive theory on the embeddedness of AI-generated images in illness experiences and narratives, and vice versa. We must ask in what ways these images matter for a renewed relationship not only with our bodies, but also with our surrounding world, in how we experience and represent illness and resistance.