AI racism is a truth that doesn’t need to be embellished. It’s at its greatest power when it is simply shown. But it isn’t shown enough.
Production company, Primo Content, has created a film in which real prompts were used to generate an AI image for Brazilian organisation, The Central Union of Favelas (CUFA) and and FNA (National Antiracist Front). The campaign, The Prompt Bias, highlights how Generative AI platforms are not immune to societal and historical prejudices.
The film was directed by the duo, SALSA (Diego Santana Claudino and Guto Azevedo), and produced by Primo Content in collaboration with Favela Films, the audiovisual branch of CUFA, and Africa Creative. The original soundtrack was composed by Halley Sound.
“We deal with AI tools for generating images and texts all the time in our daily lives. During one of our searches, we encountered this shocking racist bias in one of the most prestigious image generation platforms. Immediately we felt compelled to recreate that experience and share our feeling of perplexity with these biased images, transforming that feeling into a film,” commented directors, Diego Santana Claudino and Guto Azevedo.
Beyond the film, the project also includes a series of discussions with young people from Favela Films. The aim is to discuss how new generations of filmmakers, advertisers, and audiovisual professionals deal with these challenges. The meetings will generate a report of reflections to be presented to programming and AI companies to review the codes and algorithms, adopting a more supportive and antiracist perspective.
“All artificial intelligence originates from natural intelligence. This is obvious, but it is also clear that this original intelligence has imbued algorithms with biases, sometimes racist, propagated and disseminated by machines that are beyond human control. We can never normalize racism. We must propose a new antiracist code that rethinks how society views Black people, not just in Brazil but worldwide. This is the significant denunciation and provocation that CUFA makes in this film,” statedCelso Athayde, founder of CUFA.
“We want to take this opportunity to discuss a form of intrinsic racism in our work tools. But we want to do this in cooperation with the very victims of racism: Black people who work in our industry and feel the full weight of relentless discrimination, which, as we now see, is also perpetuated by our own creative tools,” added John Oliveira, CEO of Favela Films.
The entire project includes a series of film screenings and debates in communities, schools, and institutions across the country, promoting an open and inclusive dialogue about the challenges and possible solutions to combat structural racism in the digital age.
Credits:
Production Company: Primo Content
Director: SALSA
Concept: Primo Content in collaboration with Favela Filmes
Executive Producers: Fernanda Gomes & Fernando Fanucchi
Head of Sales: Rafa Costa
Producer: Karla Fernandes
Assistant Producer: Arthur Queiroz
Production Partner: Favela Filmes
CEO: John Oliveira
Producer: Joelson Batista
Client Services: Debora Freire & Carla Zulu
1st AD: Camila Gentile
Cinematographer: Fabio Politi
Art Director: Martino Piccinini
Props Master: Ana Paula Braga
Line Producer: Monica Viesi
Post-Production Coordinator: Diulle Fonseca
Post-Production Assistant: Lucas Ramos
Editor: Victor Cohen
Colourist: Fernando Lui
Grading Company: Marla Color Grading
Sound & Music: Halley Sound
Original Score: Halley Sound
Songwriter & Music Producer: David Bessler
Sound Design & Mix: Vinicius Villani
Sound Executive Producer: Thereza Helena
Agency: Africa Creative
Creative VP: Angerson Vieira
Director of Institutional Relations & Sustainability: Raphael Vandystadt
Agency Producer: Rodrigo Ferrari
