Will the Medium Lose the Message?

While exploring one of the internet services offering a range of tools to discover your roots, I became engaged in AI modification of historical images. What a refreshing experience to lend a blush of life to the ever-grey face of my great-grandpa, make him dancing, and even hear talking about how proud he is of his descendants (yes, it’s about me, and let’s forget his grumpiness and scrooginess).

Early development of such practices lured crowds of us, nostalgia passionates to social media. However, with rapidly advancing technology, I suddenly felt trapped in a roller-coaster trip, head first and a bit terrified. It’s supposed to be fun, right?

Take Your Heritage and Tweak It

Marina Amaral a renowned colorist, has been enhancing historical images for years, and is one of the voices raising concerns about how AI subtly alters our interpretation of history, especially on social media. The discussion deepens with projects like The Warsaw Dream, which provoked extreme reactions ranging from awe among tech enthusiasts to alarm from historians and educators.

This project, while fascinating, represents a chronological and factual mess. The lively music from epoque might fit some scenes, but it clashes disturbingly with images of the Warsaw Ghetto. Trams with the Star of David roll through the ghetto as if the Holocaust was just a part of daily life during World War II – an oversimplification that distorts the gravity of those events.

Personally, the more I learn about history, the more I realize how much I don’t know. Smart AI animation robots have no such reflections or doubts. They simply create ‘missing’ movie frames based on artificial imagination, and voilà – new versions of the past are ready to spread all over the internet. Shared primarily for nostalgic visual aesthetics, most often lack the heavy load of historical context explaining the circumstances of the time and place.

Understanding the Impact of Media

Let’s turn to Marshall McLuhan. Building on his foundational work Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), McLuhan introduced a follow-up publication in 1967 titled The Medium is the Massage. And yes, “massage” isn’t a typo. It’s intentional teaser, meant to emphasize the fact that media does more to us than simply convey content – it massages us – forms our senses, perception, and attention, leaving us in comfort. While we focus on the content, we tend to overlook how the medium itself influence us on a deeper level.

Today’s AI creations are often shared primarily for sense of wonder or excitement, not the historical fidelity. Animated photos and projects recreating the voices of deceased ancestors focus on visual stimulation and emotional reaction. Nostalgia, too, is a powerful trend luring those who long for psychological comfort, a sense of belonging, and meaningful connection in an increasingly fragmented and chaotic reality. This idea correspond to Sherry Turkle’s concept of “digital intimacy” which explores how digital technologies create simulated relationships that feel so real, they can often replace the need for real human connections in the real world. People viewing these AI-generated images and animations, often form an emotional connection with the simulation. This relationship, however, lacks depth or understanding. Turkle critiques this as a form of retreat from meaningful relationships, both with people and with history, replaced by aestetically pleasing but ultimately disconnected version of reality.

Would an Image be Enough?

Given the nature of today’s internet, I believe that if written language were one day removed from us, humanity could easily communicate solely through images and stay emotionally satisfied.

References

Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (New York: Basic Books, 2011).

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).

Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage (New York: Bantam Books, 1967).