Promptography and the reconfiguration of human creative agency

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.67937/30861128.2026.37

Keywords:

Promtography, Generative AI, Apparatus, Creative Agency, Post-Referentiality

Abstract

The proliferation of images produced by generative artificial intelligence has created a conceptual lacuna, rendering the term “photography” ontologically inadequate and precipitating widespread debates. This work intervenes by defending the concept of “promptography” to define this new socio-technical practice. We argue that visual promptography is a post-referential modality, distinguished from photography not by its aesthetics but by its genesis in symbolic command rather than indexical capture. Through a critical synthesis, we analyze promptography as a practice enacted through an opaque computational “apparatus,” governed by a “dromological” logic of acceleration that reconfigures creative agency. Anchored in case studies of contemporary artists, our analysis reveals this phenomenon as a potent diagnostic of the current moment, linking the crisis of visual epistemology to the psycho-political pressures of the achievement society. The work establishes the critical importance of this distinction for navigating a culture in which human agency is increasingly defined as a strategic game played against the programmatic logic of intelligent machines.

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Author Biographies

Gustavo Simas da Silva, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

Doutorando e Mestre em Engenharia, Gestão e Mídia do Conhecimento na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). Graduado em Engenharia Eletrônica pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Técnico em Eletrônica pelo Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Santa Catarina (IFSC). Atualmente Analista de Inovação no Impact Hub Brasil, linha de trabalho em Ecossistemas de Inovação e Impacto, Gestão do Conhecimento. Tem experiência na área de Ecossistemas de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Territorial, Ecologia do Conhecimento, Cultura de Aprendizagem, Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento, Engenharia Eletrônica e Elétrica, com ênfase em Processamento Digital de Sinais, Áudio, Robótica, Tecnologias Assistivas, Dados. Sócio-fundador da VI Mídia, produção de conteúdo de audiodescrição, audiolivros e material acessível em áudio para público print disabled.

Vânia Ribas Ulbricht, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

Doutora em Engenharia de Produção pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC).

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Published

2026-08-06

How to Cite

SIMAS DA SILVA, Gustavo; ULBRICHT, Vânia Ribas. Promptography and the reconfiguration of human creative agency. Revista Brasileira de Estudos CTS, Brasil, v. 1, n. 3, p. 38–59, 2026. DOI: 10.67937/30861128.2026.37. Disponível em: https://revistabrasileiradeestudoscts.com/revista/article/view/37. Acesso em: 21 sep. 2026.

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ARTIGOS

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