Artificial intelligence is often perceived as distant technology for older generations, yet in Valparaíso it has become a practical tool to preserve and share memories.
Memorias Sintéticas is a project that has brought together more than a hundred older adults from across the region, inviting them to recount meaningful moments from their lives that are then transformed into digital images.
The process involves interviews that capture their stories and convert them into visual material using an artificial intelligence system trained on historical photographs of Valparaíso. In this way, personal memories become images that, while neither traditional photographs nor illustrations, offer a new form of cultural heritage representation.
This growing archive not only highlights individual experiences but also serves as an intergenerational bridge. As older adults share their memories, they engage in dialogue with emerging technologies, while younger people learn to value and reinterpret collective memory.
The results of this memory-gathering process will be presented in an exhibition on Saturday, October 11 at the Centro de Extensión del Ministerio de las Culturas, and will remain open for a month. The show will feature images generated from the participants’ stories and will invite new contributors to join the archive.
Additionally, on Friday, October 10, Pau García, founder of the Catalan studio Domestic Data Streamers—the creators of the original concept—will deliver a keynote address at the former Valparaíso Stock Exchange (exBolsa de Valores de Valparaíso).
More than a visual record, Memorias Sintéticas signals a shift in how we relate to technology. By placing older adults at the heart of the creative process, the initiative demonstrates that artificial intelligence is not the exclusive domain of experts or younger generations—it is also a tool to preserve stories, express identities, and create a meeting point between past and future.
Learn more about the initiative at https://memoriasinteticas.cl
El Ciudadano
