Towards a postmedia literacy. AI photographic filters, education, and self-representation

In the contemporary world, media are experiencing forms of “pulverisation” and viral dissemination that expose younger generations to a variety of new stimuli and possible dangers that media literacy has the duty to address. While children are increasingly proficient in the use of digital devices, they struggle to develop a critical framework for the re-appropriation of media experiences. This essay aims to outline some preliminary thoughts on what we propose to call “postmedia literacy”, a framework that seeks to critically engage with the main feature of the contemporary mediascape in terms of content, devices, and practices. After the presentation of this concept, the chapter will address one of the most significant processes in the current mediascape: the intersection between artificial intelligence and photographic representation systems. Particular attention will be paid to the potential value of AI (post)photographic filters and the challenges they create in educational processes and contexts, especially in the primary school. Indeed, the use of digital filters in the process of self-representation implies new strategies of identity formation which should not be ignored.