As a PhD researcher working in artificial intelligence (AI) field, I’ve always been fascinated by the potential for technology to serve purposes beyond pure computational advancement. When I began collaborating with Pei-Han Lin on what would become the “Latent Expressions” project, I discovered firsthand how AI research can transform into a medium for social commentary and political discourse. Pei-Han brought to our collaboration an artistic vision that spans multiple disciplines—from painting and sculpture to installation and sound art—all unified to address pressing issues of politics, environmental justice, and human rights.
Our partnership emerged from a shared curiosity about how Generative AI, in this case StyleGAN, could be harnessed as an apparatus for meaningful artistic expression. Throughout this project I realized that the most compelling applications of AI occur when computational advancements serves broader human purposes. That is transforming abstract research into tangible forms of creative activism.
Building the Technical Foundation
The core of our collaborative work centered on my previous experiences in StyleGAN technology and its capacity for generating photorealistic images. I was responsible for the technical implementation that began with encoding existing images of authority figures into the model’s latent space—a process that allows us to extract representational elements and distill visual information into computational components (latent vectors).
The fruit of collaboration came through different approaches utilized for navigating this latent space. I worked closely with Pei-Han to manipulate latent vectors along chosen directional paths, incorporating specific boundary conditions that would serve her artistic vision. By establishing these guiding principles, we could influence the generation of new imagery in ways that aligned with her conceptual goals. As we guided these vectors through the multidimensional space, we generated new faces—synthetic yet emotionally resonant portraits that became the foundation for Pei-Han’s artistic statement.
My Role in Amplifying Political Commentary
While my background lies in technical AI research, working with Pei-Han opened my eyes to how computational tools can become vehicles for deeper political messaging. Our project directly addresses the Norwegian Government’s policies regarding China’s development trajectory and examines the complex challenges facing Taiwanese citizens living in Norway. Through our technical collaboration, I helped to create a form of digital protest that highlights violations of fundamental human rights visually.
Above that Pei-Han’s personal experiences and insights, which she shared through interviews with Charlotte Bendiks, added layers of authenticity and emotional depth that transformed the technical aspects of the work into meaningful discourse. I learned that by lending the computational expertise to an artistic vision, we could create a bridge between individual experience and broader political realities affecting entire communities.
For more details, visit Pei-Han’s webpage.
Exhibitions
This project has been featured in several exhibitions, sparking dialogues on human rights and identity:
2022 - Art x AI
2022 - If I were standing in your shoes
2021 - This is a protest gesture to showcase Norway’s violation of basic human rights