THE AGE OF SYNTHETIC IMAGES
A short reflection on images, trust and imagination
LATERAL VIEWS
For a long time, we assumed that images and videos were reliable proof of reality, that what we were seeing had actually happened. This assumption is no longer valid, and it will become even less so. Artificial intelligence is making any aesthetic replicable, including the imperfect one that for years we associated with authenticity.
Rawness is no longer a guarantee; it is simply a phase, one style among many. In a world where almost everything can be simulated, the image loses its value as proof and stops being a sufficient criterion. What matters is no longer only what we see, but who shows it and for what reason. For this reason, aesthetics alone is no longer enough, neither the polished nor the rough one. Both can now be reproduced.
The real shift concerns trust. Trust moves away from the image and toward continuity, from a single appearance to coherence over time, from form to relationship. It is not by chance that the most authentic sharing has gradually moved from public feeds to more private spaces, from performative content to relational exchanges. We are entering an era of permanent doubt, where we no longer start by believing what we see but by questioning it, slowly learning to observe people before images.
Felice Casorati, "Raja" (1924/25), Tempera on wood, 120 x 100 cm, Collezione Privata Venezia
In this context, authenticity is no longer a style to adopt, but a responsibility built over time through transparency, coherence and constant presence. It cannot be demonstrated in a single piece of content, but only in duration.
At the same time, it is worth asking a simpler question. Are we really sure that the world of images was authentic until yesterday? Images have always been interpretations, constructions, selections. Photography has been staged since its beginnings, cinema is narrative, and media have often told partial versions of reality. The idea that a stable visual truth existed before and has now been destroyed is probably a simplification. What changes with artificial intelligence is not the possibility of manipulating images, but the scale and speed at which this becomes accessible to everyone.
Felice Casorati,"Ritratto di Cynthia", (1925), Oil on wood, 56 × 69 cm, Collezione Privata / Felice Casorati, "Scodella e zucchini", (1942), Oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm, Anonymous sale, Finarte, Milan, 9 December 1986, lot 233
Simultaneously, AI is not only a tool of simulation. It can also become a tool of imagination. Many ideas, possible futures and visions have never been told simply because we did not have the tools to make them visible. Today, we can explore scenarios, construct worlds and give form to intuitions that previously remained abstract. In this sense, artificial intelligence may not only be a machine that confuses reality, but also one that expands what we are able to imagine.
Felice Casorati ,"The student", (1960), Oil on canvas, 90x50 cm, Galleria Pananti Casa d'Aste / Felice Casorati, Mele sulla "Gazzetta del Popolo", (1928), Oil on plywood, 59 x 49,8 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM) di Roma
Perhaps authenticity has never been a property of images. Images have always been interpretations, constructions, points of view. Authenticity is something that emerges over time, in the relationship between those who create, those who look and the context in which an image takes shape. If this is the case, artificial intelligence does not necessarily mark the end of authenticity, but forces us to rethink it. As images become increasingly replicable, what matters is not only what we see, but the position from which an image originates, the coherence with which it is built and the vision that supports it.
Potentially the real change is not the loss of authenticity, but the possibility of imagining new ways to construct it. And the question that remains open is simple: will we use these tools to produce even more noise, or to imagine something better?
