You press the button, they do the rest

Abstract

There exists a fundamental lack of cultural knowledge on the side of many developers of generative AI. I examine the effects caused by a blindside towards hundreds of years of philosophical, technical and socio-cultural readings of the media they are drawing from and building upon. The ongoing popularity and usage of AI systems has spurred debates about the merits of this technology for human society, its relevance in the realms of art and industry, its impacts on creativity, labour and politics. I contend that in order to understand and properly discuss the fundamental implications of this addition to our visual culture, we must first grasp not only the technological foundations on which these models were built but also their cultural and historic origins.