Zachary Kai
I read often. Always. Several books at once (often to my detriment, but always useful for pattern-seeking.) I never thought I'd grow fond of a specific publisher. I'm aware of some imprints, but never a specific 'style.'
Perhaps that says more about the publishing industry than me, but I've found a house I trust and delight in: Verso. The sense I get after reading several titles is deep engagement with 'esoteric' subjects, surprising connections that all make sense, and intellectual rigor.
This book has all three. No surprise there! The author has spent two decades making invisible systems visible: classified satellites, secret prisons, the hidden architecture of surveillance. This essay collection (part cultural criticism, part field guide) traces how generative AI and computer vision have rewired our relationship with images. Who makes them, who they're made for, and what they're doing to us.
What I didn't expect was the detour through UFO mythology and Cold War psyops. But each page earns every strange turn, and it all coheres.
Images have always been tools. But also weapons.
The question isn't whether machines are watching us. It's whether we know how to watch back.
I read often. Always. Several books at once (often to my detriment, but always useful for pattern-seeking.) I never thought I'd grow fond of a specific publisher. I'm aware of some imprints, but never a specific 'style.'
Perhaps that says more about the publishing industry than me, but I've found a house I trust and delight in: Verso. The sense I get after reading several titles is deep engagement with 'esoteric' subjects, surprising connections that all make sense, and intellectual rigor.
This book has all three. No surprise there! The author has spent two decades making invisible systems visible: classified satellites, secret prisons, the hidden architecture of surveillance. This essay collection (part cultural criticism, part field guide) traces how generative AI and computer vision have rewired our relationship with images. Who makes them, who they're made for, and what they're doing to us.
What I didn't expect was the detour through UFO mythology and Cold War psyops. But each page earns every strange turn, and it all coheres.
Images have always been tools. But also weapons.
The question isn't whether machines are watching us. It's whether we know how to watch back.