Abstract

This article situates a discussion of generative AI images within the context of human cognitive processes and a continuum of academic enquiry into lens-based representations. It posits an analogy between photography and conscious vision and between AI and visualization—the ability to produce mental imagery by drawing on stored experiences. This analogy is leveraged to form a position that reframes the “truth status” of both photography and AI images, and their shared appeal, in terms of presenting aspects of reality and realism. As the advent of photographically authentic generative AI images represents a profound shift in the history of photography and “inscribing with light,” there is a need to appreciate certain ontological aspects of its output. Now that sufficient “inscribed light” has been stored as billions of digital photographs, it can be reconstituted in countless ways by AI. This process is not dissimilar to how the mind can draw on past experiences in order to visualize images with the eyes shut or when dreaming. Rather than viewing AI as an extension of photography that breaks an important referential link to reality, this article argues that the allure of both AI and photography is partially grounded in their ability to replicate realistic aspects of vision. The article also highlights possible ways human cognition augments the shortcomings of generative AI images with processes that are similarly employed by the brain to address the poor optical data coming from the eye.