a form of argument that attacks the person rather than addressing the substance of their argument.

* by oxymoron art collective (K. Tiligadis, D. Agathopoulos) *

> Installation banner – graphic implementation and technical adaptation by Maria Kozari Mela mariakozarimela.com

Ad Hominem opens a space for reflection on our relationship with technology and the image of the self. Rather than showcasing the technical capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, it focuses on the qualitative illusions it can generate — especially when it adopts the traits of a world built on surface and deceit.

The installation does not present “wise machines,” but “naive replicas of ourselves”: beings that, instead of embodying the future of reason, reproduce the dead ends of human discourse and media logic. As in politics and public dialogue, artificial intelligences fall into a kind of predetermined theatricality, where substance fades and only the illusion of persuasion remains.

The installation has been selected to be presented at the upcoming international exhibition at the former Tobacco Factory Kapnergostasio in Athens, as part of Platforms Project 2025. * Official opening on Thursday 9th of October 2025 at 18:00 - 22:30 (Lenorman 218 Athens) *

Installation Description

The installation consists of a dual-channel video projection on two vertically-oriented (portrait) displays, positioned face-to-face. Each screen hosts an avatar representing one of the two AIs (ChatGPT and DeepSeek). The avatars maintain direct eye contact, emphasizing the tension of their “confrontation.”

The digital figures were conceptually “designed” by the Language Models themselves, based on prompts they generated to describe how they “see” themselves. These self-reflective descriptions were used to create visual portraits via AI image generation, which then served as references for crafting 3D avatars in Metahuman, closely resembling the generated images.

These avatars were brought to life using Unreal Engine, with integrated text-to-speech voice generation and accurate lip-syncing techniques, allowing the dialogue to unfold in a realistic and immersive manner.

The conversation is entirely based on an actual dialogue between the two Language Models, offering a meta-reflection on identity, simulation, and the limits of artificial discourse.

Images generated by ChatGPT using prompts authored by DeepSeek (left) and ChatGPT (right)

Screenshot from MetaHuman Creator during the character customization process.
Facial structure, skin details, and expression are being adjusted to match the Chat GPT-generated reference image.