AI-generated imagery in ethnography: A reflective framework

Abstract

As synthetic visuals produced by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) proliferate across media and research contexts, they raise urgent epistemological, ethical, and methodological questions for ethnography. This commentary extends debates on GenAI's role in communication and knowledge production by focusing on ethnographic concerns of representation, reflexivity, and visual ethics. GenAI imagery, often photorealistic but nonindexical, unsettles long-standing conventions of co-presence, negotiated authorship, and situated seeing. This commentary proposes the 3C Framework of Contextuality, Consent, and Criticality, intended to guide future engagements with GenAI synthetic visual media in ethnographic research. Grounded in foundational ethnographic values, the framework is heuristic rather than prescriptive, offering a starting point for ethical experimentation and positional reflection.