abstract
- This article presents the development and exploratory evaluation of MAVIA (Visual Analysis Model with Artificial Intelligence), a digital artefact based on generative artificial intelligence that operationalises a hermeneutic socio-semiotic model for photographic criticism (Bañuelos, 2023). The study adopts an exploratory mixed-methods approach and was conducted with 125 university students enrolled in visual culture and photography courses. The most frequently selected perspective was the historical¿techno-aesthetic (78.4%). Overall, 72% of participants evaluated the tool positively, while 36.8% identified limitations related to overanalysis. The combined mode of use (39.2%) demonstrated greater critical depth than the automatic mode (60.8%). The most frequently observed emergent visual literacy indicators were multiperspectival reading (67.2%) and awareness of technological mediation (52%). The results suggest that MAVIA functions as a form of cognitive scaffolding that expands the analytical repertoire without replacing critical judgement, and that the tension between automation and interpretation constitutes a productive pedagogical space.