Time document or time travel?
A cover writes history – or do we rewrite it? Historic moments shape our collective memory. But what if that memory is redesigned – with AI?
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A cover writes history – or do we rewrite it? Historic moments shape our collective memory. But what if that memory is redesigned – with AI?
The original cover features the first issue of the Schweizer Illustrierte from 1911. It displays an image from the war—a historical document that captures the harshness and reality of that era.
AI creation, the fake:
Albert Einstein, staged before a revolutionary discovery in Bern.
Same aesthetic, same form, but an entirely different narrative.
AI artist Basil Stücheli demonstrates how an original image from the Ringier archive is transformed into a deceptively realistic fake photo and why this can be dangerous.
If historical documents can be manipulated, what still counts as “evidence”?
Fakes can distort the perspective of entire generations.
Between education and propaganda, history is restaged.
Archive images are already being used today to feed AI training data — with the risk that fakes will flow back as sources.
(Source: MIT Technology Review, 2023)
Algorithms push content that triggers emotions – regardless of whether it is historically accurate or not.
(Source: MDPI, 2020)
Does the image really come from a verified archive?
Clothing, typography, style – do they match the year?
Scenes that are “too perfectly” staged are suspicious.
Scenes that are “too perfectly” staged are suspicious.
“A cover can document history. Or rewrite history. ”
Welcome to WHAT THE FAKE — discover more pairs of pictures, facts and tips
