Artist Trevor Paglen has published a new book, *How to See Like a Machine: Images After AI*, which argues that generative AI and computer vision are fundamentally changing how images function in culture. Drawing on his decade-long practice, Paglen contends that images are no longer merely representations for human interpretation but have become operational tools—'activations' that trigger automated responses and shape reality. He cites examples such as surveillance cameras at grocery stores, the Samsara navigation system in trucks, and the ImageNet database to illustrate how machine vision systems normalize surveillance in service of capital, a phenomenon he terms 'machine realism.'
This matters because Paglen’s analysis moves the conversation about AI beyond speculative futures to the concrete, often invisible ways machine-readable images already govern behavior, extract value, and reinforce capitalist systems. By framing images as 'operational' rather than symbolic, he challenges artists, critics, and the public to ask not what an image says but what it does—a shift with profound implications for privacy, autonomy, and cultural production in an era of pervasive algorithmic oversight.