TRANSIT

So-called “artificial intelligence” (AI) brings forth a new category of memory which recursively generates texts, speeches, images and sounds that can resemble “authentic” documents. In the automation of expression and representation using the massive data accumulated on the Web, the question of the arts, far from being anecdotal, has become consubstantial with the effects of current statistical models. What emerges is a new realism that destabilizes both past archives and future perspectives. The counterfactual nature of this alien realism unsettles the foundation upon which we previously established our relation to truth. The political consequences of this evolution have been successfully exploited by fascists forces. Progressive movements need a better understanding of counterfactual realism in order to stop losing battles.