She told the bot, and the bot understood

AI Art as a Method to Visualise Lived Experience

‘She told the bot, and the bot understood‘ tests the viability of using Generative AI Art to expose the lived experience of (patient) communities.

During workshops underpinned by Feminist Participatory
Action Research and Photovoice (Wang, 1997), participants
generate AI Art to determine whether it has the potential to uncover what cannot be visible to a camera: the participant’s mind.

Could AI Art be Photovoice 2.0?

This project empowers communities with new technologies by implementing similar goals to Photovoice (Wang, 1997). Photovoice is a participatory action research strategy that may offer unique contributions to women’s health. Through photography, people can identify, represent, and enhance their community. As a practice based in the production of knowledge, Photovoice has three main goals: (1) to enable people to record and reflect their community’s strengths and concerns, (2) to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through group discussion of photographs, and (3) to reach policymakers.

Workshops have previously ran in conjunction with Leeds Beckett University, Menopause Live and Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Workshops in conjunction with South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) are set to start in June 2025. The images below were created by Menopause Live delegates.

What impacts wellbeing for (peri)menopausal women?

/imagine prompt: dry, unfeminine, sterile, unattractive –s 250
/imagine prompt: lost, trapped, alone –s 250
/imagine prompt: red mist, misunderstood –ar 16:9
/imagine prompt: dark tunnel, hope, transformation –no people –ar 3:2

AI artwork depicting a woman turning into a dark entity — _{HOW DO YOU FEEL IN DURING YOUR LUTEAL PHASE?}
_{/imagine prompt lonely, female in pain, disconnected, misunderstood, vast emptiness, static electricity, darkness –ar 1:3 –s2000}

AI Artwork of a portrait of a green woman with lightning bolts in her hair — **/imagine prompt** brain fog, nerve shock, barely lit, impressionism, expressive brush strokes –ar 16:9

About the Researcher

‘She told the bot, and the bot understood‘ is a project by Senior Lecturer and PhD Researcher Marielle Reuser. Marielle is an ex-Rockstar Games (Red Dead Redemption II, Grand Theft Auto V) 3D Environment Artist and illustrator, with an interest in finding a positive use for AI Art.

Marielle was diagnosed with Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). This is a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It causes a range of emotional and physical symptoms every month during the luteal phase.

When she was at her lowest, she found relief in using AI Art model Midjourney. She told the bot, and the bot understood.