Shane Balkowitsch's Wet Plate Artwork Challenges A.I. Chatbots
In an opinion piece for PetaPixel, wet plate collodion photographer Shane Balkowitsch expresses his concerns regarding the influence of A.I. chatbots on society. He highlights that by 2025, there will be over 220 million downloads of A.I. companion apps, with 72% of U.S. teenagers using chatbots and 31% of adult men forming romantic connections with computers. Balkowitsch outlines the evolution of A.I. from John McCarthy's 1956 Dartmouth conference to the release of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, noting that ChatGPT 5 contains 3-5 trillion parameters and that more than 30 billion fake A.I. images have been produced since 2022. He raises ethical issues such as unconsented data collection and A.I.-related suicides. Balkowitsch, who teaches at Bismarck State College and has works displayed in 117 museums, created 'Nude Study of Your A.I. Girlfriend' (9-2-2026) and advocates for better education and legislative measures.
Key facts
- Over 220 million downloads of A.I. companion apps in 2025.
- 72% of U.S. teens have used a chatbot at least once.
- 31% of adult men have talked to a computer as a romantic partner.
- 42% of regular pornography viewers have engaged with A.I. chatbots or companions.
- John McCarthy coined the term 'artificial intelligence' in 1956 at Dartmouth College.
- Joseph Weizenbaum created the first chatbot ELIZA in 1966 at MIT.
- IBM's Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
- OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Sam Altman and Elon Musk.
- ChatGPT was launched on November 30, 2022.
- ChatGPT 5 is said to have 3-5 trillion parameters.
- Over 30 billion fake A.I. images have been generated online since 2022.
- Over 100 million A.I. images are made daily in ChatGPT alone.
- Shane Balkowitsch created a wet plate collodion artwork 'Nude Study of Your A.I. Girlfriend' dated 9-2-2026.
- Birthrates fell to 1.6 children per woman, below replacement levels.
- Balkowitsch has original plates at 117 museums including the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.
- He is a professor of photography at Bismarck State College.
Entities
Artists
- Shane Balkowitsch
- Joaquin Phoenix
- John McCarthy
- Alan Turing
- Joseph Weizenbaum
- Sam Altman
- Elon Musk
- Garry Kasparov
- John Naisbitt
- Frederick Scott Archer
Institutions
- Dartmouth College
- MIT
- IBM
- OpenAI
- PetaPixel
- Smithsonian
- Library of Congress
- Pitt Rivers Museum
- University of Oxford
- Royal Photographic Society
- Bismarck State College
Locations
- New Hampshire
- United States