Visual Rhetoric and Symbolic Imaginaries From Artificial Intelligence on the U.S.-Mexico Border

This research explores the social, cultural, and symbolic visual imaginaries generated by four artificial intelligence (AI) programs about the U.S.-Mexico border. Six key concepts are investigated: the ¿American Dream,¿ ¿border wall,¿ ¿migration,¿ ¿drug trafficking,¿ ¿power imbalance,¿ and ¿cross-cultural dialogue.¿ The study employs an experimental methodology, using ChatGPT 3.5 to define the concepts and symbolic imaginaries, which serve as prompts for image generation by Midjourney, DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Leonardo.ai. The generated images are analyzed through theories of imaginaries, aesthetic apparatus (post)digital visual rhetoric, and posthuman vision, revealing the synthesized visual imaginaries and rhetorical archetypes. The study builds a critical sociopolitical perspective on two aspects: the creative processes involved in constructing visual rhetorical discourses by AI devices and the inherent political biases in the techno-aesthetic visual objects produced by this technology. The findings contribute to the understanding of how AI shapes our perceptions and discourses surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border and its associated sociopolitical issues. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Rubria Rocha de Luna and Maricruz Castro Ricalde; individual chapters, the contributors.

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