Kaleidoscope Gallery: Exploring Ethics and Generative AI Through Art
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
May 20, 2025
Abstract
Ethical theories and Generative AI (GenAI) models are dynamic concepts
subject to continuous evolution. This paper investigates the visualization of
ethics through a subset of GenAI models. We expand on the emerging field of
Visual Ethics, using art as a form of critical inquiry and the metaphor of a
kaleidoscope to invoke moral imagination. Through formative interviews with 10
ethics experts, we first establish a foundation of ethical theories. Our
analysis reveals five families of ethical theories, which we then transform
into images using the text-to-image (T2I) GenAI model. The resulting imagery,
curated as Kaleidoscope Gallery and evaluated by the same experts, revealed
eight themes that highlight how morality, society, and learned associations are
central to ethical theories. We discuss implications for critically examining
T2I models and present cautions and considerations. This work contributes to
examining ethical theories as foundational knowledge that interrogates GenAI
models as socio-technical systems.
