Generative algorithms are becoming increasingly capable of imitating all established mass media. They can be produced with seemingly effortless ease and shared ever more quickly. So-called artificial intelligence stands in direct continuity with our media history. As early as the modern era, the printing press enabled the rapid mechanical production and reproduction of images and text.
Since then, our view of machines has been shaped by magic and mysticism, promises of salvation, and doomsday scenarios. What has the duplication of reality by machines brought to our world? Where will it lead us in the future?