mAI Colpevoli • Exposing Victim Blaming with ChatGPT

Sephora approached us with a mission to address the pressing issue of violence against women through a purpose-driven social campaign. Our goal was to challenge cultural biases that fuel victim blaming, showing the collective responsibility of this phenomenon and the total innocence of victims of violence, and also highlight Sephora's steadfast support for women's freedom and self-expression. Launched on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, our campaign, titled “mAI colpevoli,” was born. Translating to “never guilty,” the campaign is meant to challenge the status quo by exposing how common victim blaming is.

We produced various media formats and edits for both the teaser phase and the maintenance phases of the campaign. Each film recounts distinct and typical episodes of violence: at home, in the workplace and in a bar setting. To authentically portray the harsh realities of the daily abuse that women endure, we began by gathering reliable data from the internet as well as analytics using artificial intelligence. We relied on ChatGPT to create three scripted monologues, realizing that the AI ends up blaming itself—underscoring the pervasive victim blaming that has become the default response to one’s story of gender-based violence. Because AI learns through imitation, this intentional exposure of artificial intelligence and its outputs, shaped by online user data, aims to encourage the audience to reflect on the impact of their online and in-person behaviors.

Together with Sephora, our goal was not only to show support for women but also to ignite transformative change by prompting viewers to rethink their immediate response to accounts of gender-based violence. Through the use of artificial intelligence, we aim to provide unequivocal support to victims who were, without a doubt, "never guilty," despite societal conditioning suggesting otherwise.