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Written by Ruxandra Hurezean, article in Romanian is available under this link

“We Have a Nuclear Plant, We Understand Its Power, and We Need to Know How Bad It Would Be If It Went Boom!” – Ioana Chereș, a PhD student from Cluj-Napoca, creates art using technology to fight disinformation.

Art is one of the most effective tools against disinformation, propaganda, and manipulation because it evokes emotions.

Technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), can provide the means for art to become interactive – something you can feel, see, and even communicate with, Ioana Chereș tells me as we sip our tea at a café in the old town of Cluj-Napoca.

Picture: EURACTIV Romania, archive of the interviewee

“I believe art is the best way to communicate. Interactive art has the ability to reach people on an emotional level, transcending language and cultural barriers,” she says.

Ioana creates art installations and AI programs addressing manipulation and disinformation. Her personal projects, as well as those developed with her team at MindBugs (a project that seeks to combat disinformation using AI tools), have garnered significant interest both nationally and internationally.

One of these projects, “Statistics on Propaganda in Europe,” tracks disinformation and manipulation trends across European countries and Russia, providing tools and databases primarily aimed at journalists investigating the phenomenon. The MindBugs Discovery section of this project was presented to the French President Emmanuel Macron, while the artistic component was exhibited at the Pompidou Center in Paris. The project won the award for “Best Artist-Technology Collaboration.”

Ioana’s passion for art, which she pursued alongside her academic studies for years, is now complemented by her expertise in technology and AI, enabling her to create meaningful artistic expressions.

“I was struck by how people unknowingly build their own profiles through their online interactions, which then influence their daily lives, without them realizing it!” Ioana explains her special interest in disinformation and manipulation.

Her first deep fake-based installation was created for her undergraduate thesis, inspired by a techno-art festival in Linz, Austria.

“Through that piece, I wanted to show how we voluntarily give away our personal data, which can then be used to generate false, distorted, or even vulgar images of us that do not represent who we truly are.”

She later expanded on this idea in a much more complex project called Transparency (video in the right column), which was presented at an international conference organized by the University of Art and the Technical University of Cluj.

Explaining the project that caught the public’s attention, Ioana says: “It is a holographic projection created using the photo of anyone from the audience who wishes to participate, overlaid with the voice of someone else. That person might say something you don’t think, something that doesn’t reflect your values or beliefs. Yet, your image can be used this way, and you can be manipulated. I wanted to highlight the immense power of technology over an audience unfamiliar with its potential.”

“I believe the most effective way to demonstrate the danger of manipulation is to see yourself speaking the words of someone like Dana Budeanu or Gigi Becali,” Ioana adds.

The installation was placed at the center of the exhibition, and the shocking experience unfolded in front of other attendees, subjecting it to public scrutiny, much like how social media exposes users to an audience.

She believes that simply telling someone, “It’s wrong to vote for X; you should vote for Y because X is lying to you,” doesn’t work.

“It’s more effective to show them how easily they can be deceived and manipulated, making them more cautious. This way, you empower them with critical thinking and the freedom to make their own decisions.”

Picture: EURACTIV Romania, archive of the interviewee

Ioana has proven that what seems impossible can become reality, and that art is not limited by prejudice.

“It’s not true that people aren’t interested. We had a game-art installation about disinformation and mixed reality, created with my team at MindBugs. No museum would accept it, so we exhibited it in a club instead. We put tickets on sale, and to our surprise, we had to stop promoting it because all spots were taken! Among the attendees were ordinary people asking us what AI is, how it works – simple questions that showed a genuine curiosity and willingness to understand.”

Why is fighting disinformation important? “To remain independent thinkers,” Ioana responds.

“The problem isn’t that someone tells you what to think – it’s that you allow them to do so and follow blindly. In the past, controlling and dominating people meant cutting off their access to information, like during communism when there were only a few TV programs, censored newspapers, and no foreign books. Today, information isn’t being withheld; instead, it’s being deliberately manipulated to create the illusion of truth – to gain power, votes, and sales.”

Ioana Chereș runs a company and, together with her team at MindBugs, works on projects funded through European grants. She tells me how difficult it was in the beginning, given the added responsibilities, but they managed to navigate each stage, gaining experience and confidence along the way.

“Keeping up is tough because technology evolves faster than our ability to track it. It requires a lot of expertise. But I have great confidence in technology. I believe we are now at a stage where we have a nuclear power plant, we understand its power, and we need to figure out just how bad it would be if it went Boom!”

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