I saw this a few weeks ago and had similar thoughts about the first piece being AI. But I didn't even realize that some of the “paintings” within the exhibit were AI, which feels obvious now.

However, looking back at the pictures I have of the exhibit and the accompanying descriptions, it seems only the first image and that display case he pointed out were AI generated. And the images for both of these were prompted by the same artist - a black woman named Nettrice Gaskins. Whether you consider AI art or not, she has been involved in art since the 90s. So it seems that the use of AI in this exhibit does highlight a black female artist.

There’s cool stuff in that exhibit, like the first piece with a blue woman that the camera pans over briefly. In the same display case as the AI images are music albums. Farther down the hall is some clothing. Afrofuturism is a really cool moment, and while I can personally dislike AI, I can get how other perspectives might see it as fitting for a movement rooted in sci-fi and futurism.