Visual Literacy and Artificial Intelligence

Development and Evaluation of a Socio-Semiotic Artifact in Higher Education

Authors

  • Jacob Bañuelos Tecnológico de Monterrey

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v18.6276

Keywords:

Visual literacy, Artificial intelligence, Socio-semiotics, Image analysis, Hermeneutics, Pedagogical artifact, Visual culture, Higher education

Abstract

This article presents the development and exploratory evaluation of MAVIA (Visual Analysis Model with Artificial Intelligence), a digital artifact built on generative AI that operationalizes a hermeneutic socio-semiotic model for photographic criticism ([Autor/a], 2023). The mixed-methods exploratory study was conducted with 125 university students in visual culture and photography courses. The most frequently selected perspective was the historical-techno-aesthetic (78.4%). 72% of students positively valued the tool, while 36.8% identified limitations related to over-analysis. The combined usage mode (39.2%) showed greater critical depth than the automatic mode (60.8%). The most prevalent emergent visual literacy indicators were multiperspective reading (67.2%) and technological mediation awareness (52%). Results suggest that MAVIA functions as cognitive scaffolding that expands students' analytical repertoire without replacing critical judgment, and that the tension between automation and interpretation constitutes a productive pedagogical space for visual culture education.

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Author Biography

Jacob Bañuelos, Tecnológico de Monterrey

Research Professor at the Monterrey Institute of Technology, Department of Media and Digital Culture / School of Humanities and Education. Doctor of Information Sciences (Apto Cum Laude 1991-1995), in the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising II, Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, with the Doctoral Thesis: Visual Synthesis Photomontage: History, Theory and Practice. Member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2005, currently holding the SNI-1 level. He has published various studies, including the book Photomontage, published by Cátedra in 2008. In 2014, he published the book Photography and Mobile Devices, together with Mtro. Francisco Mata Rosas, published by Tecnológico de Monterrey-Porrúa Print; coordinator of the issue Photography: Between Analog and Digital (2019) of the DeSignis journal, together with Dr. Vicente Castellanos, published in collaboration with the University of Rosario (Argentina), the Monterrey Institute of Technology, and the Metropolitan Autonomous University. In collaboration with Dr. Armín Gómez, he published the book Totalizing Visuality (Abismos Casa Editorial), 2020, a collection of essays on emerging phenomena of the image (photography, memes, cinema, theater, computer graphics), within the framework of an incessant technological evolution, experienced in participatory user communities on digital networks. In 2023, he published the book Viral Memes. Narratives of the Pandemic from Collective Intelligence, published by the Metropolitan Autonomous University, among numerous other scientific articles.

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Published

2026-08-03

How to Cite

Bañuelos, J. (2026). Visual Literacy and Artificial Intelligence: Development and Evaluation of a Socio-Semiotic Artifact in Higher Education. VISUAL REVIEW. International Visual Culture Review Revista Internacional De Cultura Visual, 18(4), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v18.6276

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 4 (2026): Communication, Innovation and Innovation in Museums

Section

Research articles

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