From mimesis to the closed world
generative AI and the abstraction of reality in Trump’s Gaza
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46391/ALCEU.v25.ed55.2025.456Keywords:
Generative AI, Algorithmic Visuality, Post-ImagesAbstract
Investigating how AI-generated images relate to the world and what kind of reality they construct, this article examines how generative AI produces plausible images through probabilistic models that synthesize patterns from vast databases, without any link to concrete events. Drawing on the works of Baudrillard, Barthes, Flusser, Edwards, and Lemos, it argues that these creations establish a new regime in which realism is determined by algorithmic coherence rather than optical capture. To illustrate this point, the case study of a video posted on Trump’s official account—depicting a “paradisiacal” Gaza from a capitalist viewpoint—exemplifies the construction of a hyperrealist, reactionary narrative in which AI-driven manipulation simulates an alternative reality presented as both natural and inevitable. Ultimately, the article questions the implications of a self-referential system that challenges traditional notions of representation and authenticity.
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