Reimagining History with Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Phillip Toledano

March 27, 2025
13:00–14:15PM EDT
Phillip Toledano, We Are at War. IMAGE GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly advancing and remaking our understanding of reality. Generative AI – especially its capacity to create photorealistic pictures through text-to-image prompts – is changing our relationship to imagery and our understanding of truth. 

In this conversation, we will talk with Philip Toledano about his work with AI, especially his project We Are At War:

“[This project] is part of my continued exploration of historical surrealism – working with AI, I imagine one of Capa’s lost roll of 36 images – and in doing so, demonstrate how utterly convincing invented history can be. If we can rewrite the past so persuasively, imagine what we can do with the present and even the future.”

Join us for this conversation on the consequences of how AI can reimagine history and reshape the future. 

Participants

David Campbell is an educator with a uniquely varied history of research, writing, strategy, and management within academia, government, and non-profit organizations. Since 2021, David has been working with The VII Foundation, where he is the Director of Education, responsible for the foundation’s education programs, online and hybrid events, and Dispatches: The VII Foundation Blog.
Phillip Toledano considers himself a conceptual artist: Everything starts with an idea, and the idea determines the execution. Consequently, his work varies in medium, ranging from photography to installation, sculpture, painting and video. He has published seven monographs. Additionally, his photographs have appeared in: Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, Wallpaper, The London Times, The Independent Magazine, Le Monde, and Interview, amongst others.