AI images are circulating more and more online and sometimes we can't tell the 'real' from AI-generated. But as I discuss with the inimitable Gillian Rose and Roland Meyer, we need to think about AI images beyond their indexicality, i.e. the idea that a photograph is a direct representation of the subject it captures. In this episode, we grapple with AI generators that are part of extractive, colonial industries, and how that shapes the affect of AI visuals. Recorded Jan 29, 2025. Released Feb 24, 2025.

It’s a flat world. The Synthetic Realities of Sora

https://rrrreflect.org/special-issue-1/its-a-flat-world-the-synthetic-realities-of-sora

“It’s a flat world. The Synthetic Realities of AI Video” by Roland Meyer at Hidden Layers 24

https://vimeo.com/1011342969

The New Value of the Archive

AI Image Generation and the Visual Economy of ‘Style’

https://image-journal.de/the-new-value-of-the-archive/

“Generic Pastness. AI Image Synthesis and the Virtualization of the Archive”

https://vimeo.com/873978726

Models All The Way Down by Christo Buschek & Jer Thorp

https://knowingmachines.org/models-all-the-way

Gillian Rose, Professor of Human Geography