Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop – EFT

Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop - EFTA

As part of follow-up and multiplier activities, EFTA has hosted a workshop with 16 youth workers from local to implement the workshop ‘Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop’. In this workshop, on the first day the participants were introduced to the project, its outputs and then specifically into AI tools as part of the next day’s workshop. After being introduced to AI and creating visuals using prompts and AI tools, the participants have worked in groups to create AI generated images using their imagination, empathy and prompts.

The below visuals are all AI-generated using Dall-E and Runway by the participants of the event.

Days once filled with youthful songs were suddenly marred by a lack of communication. Words were lost not at the tip of his lips but in an inner forest of silence. In the mirror of society, loneliness mingled with glimmers. The rays of hope in his eyes went out, silence swallowed him up. But the young soul embarked on an inner struggle, walking through the dark forest. He tried to learn the dance of words, endeavored to translate silence into his own language. Perhaps he needed to hear his own inner voice to understand the melody of society. And so, a new song rising from the silence transformed the disappearance of the young individual with a melody he found within himself.

Migration entered children’s lives with a dramatic touch. New educational environments, language barriers and lost friendships dragged them into an internal conflict. However, in this grey picture, children blossomed with the desire to learn. Their determination to discover a new world in the midst of strangeness led them to transform and adapt. Each of them, after a dramatic beginning, built their own powerful stage and started to play their roles on the stage of life.

The people crossing the migration border step by step represent vitality and hope in the colorful half of the picture. However, as they cross the border, they step from the colour section to the black and white section, breaking away from their old lives and leaving their past behind. The black and white section symbolizes uncertainty, hardship and alienation, while the vibrant colors in the color section represent a new beginning and hope. This painting is a metaphor for the difficult journey and change experienced by migrants.

Generations that lose the transfer of culture between generations due to migration become lonely among the crowds in an unfamiliar center. She feels alien in the new environment where she cannot bring her old culture, traditions and values. Although she is physically present in the crowds, she is emotionally lost in a void. While the colors he brings from his past symbolize his resistance against the loneliness of old age, these colors fade in an unfamiliar geography and his life energy gradually decreases. Although she tries to cling to her memories, she has difficulty in finding a balance between old age and foreignness, and faces loneliness by breaking away from her past.

Well-qualified and successful job-seekers who struggle with language and social inclusion problems face an uphill struggle with real life. Their skills and experiences are insufficient to adapt to their new lives. Language barriers, communication difficulties and efforts to integrate into society limit these individuals in the process of finding a job. Although they are well-equipped, they find it difficult to adapt to new social norms and the business world. This conflict reflects the real-life complexity of the skilled generation as they cope with social and language barriers, despite being well equipped.

The individual in search of identity is in danger of losing his/her own identity while integrating into society. While the effort to feel like someone other than oneself coincides with the desire to adapt to social norms, the risk of forgetting one’s own self arises in this process. The desire to behave in accordance with the expectations of society and to be accepted can lead the individual away from his/her own values and identity. While this internal conflict presents an integrated image when viewed from the outside, it may cause an internal alienation and identity crisis.

During migration, generations in search of their unique identity feel as if they are lost among the stars. The endeavor to maintain their roots makes them dance to the melody of the past, but they also try to keep up with the rhythm of a new world. The sense of belonging turns their souls into a song played like an instrument between the old and the new. While their identities integrate with the colors of the place they migrate to, like a painter mixing colors on a canvas, they also strive to create their own unique paintings.

Communities who have left their lives behind due to migration unite under the same roof and discover their common hopes that flourish through the disadvantages they share. Each of them comes together with their pasts full of different stories and shares a common history. Although this unity initially reflects what has been lost, over time these communities discover the potential to support each other and build a common future. Emerging hopes sprout out of the shadow of the past, sprouting with solidarity and resilience.

Nnot only physically, but also in a deep mental struggle. The effort to adapt to a new environment, language barriers, cultural shock and social adjustment affect individuals’ mental health. Leaving their roots, coping with uncertainty and the search for identity test the mental resilience of migrants. This process involves not only a physical presence in a new place, but also an inner journey. Migration societies often endeavor to strike a mental balance between coming to terms with the past and looking to the future with hope.

Standing at the gate of the future, they face the unknown. While their tired bodies stand with their hopes, their waiting at the border gate overflows with patience to open the door to a new life. The desire to carry their new hopes across the border combines with excitement and uncertainty in those waiting. This waiting is not only a physical transition, but also the beginning of an inner transformation.

The desire to transcend boundaries, the feeling of being trapped in the cages of reality, despite being intoxicated by the winds of freedom of dreams. This incompatibility between the mind and the body is almost like a game; while dreams are trapped in the framework of reality, not being fully aware of what is happening with an inner sense of imprisonment. As we go back and forth in this conflict, a balance point is formed between the desire to transcend the limits of dreams and the feeling of being trapped.

The desire to learn represents a spirit ready to knock on the door of knowledge and experiences, but at the same time a man who is unable to adapt and make peace with his inner world, a man who carries the sadness of an inner storm. Instead of harmonizing with the beauties brought by new knowledge, the soul, lost in the depths of an inner conflict, encounters the flowers of its inner world. The doors opened by learning turn into the locks of inability to adapt, and a restless dance begins in his inner world

Lives lost in the pursuit of hopes are found in a labyrinth where hopes are often a reflection of cultures, characters and stories. Each hope carries the colors of a unique culture and is shaped by the characters’ aspirations and dreams. This journey is an attempt to build a bridge between cultures through hopes and to explore the inner evolution of the characters. Stories come to life where hopes are lost, and the richness of cultures and characters is revealed through these stories.

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Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop – EFT

Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop - EFTA

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