Author Archives: Samuel Korda

Lars Konzack’s paper “Generative AI, Simulacra, and the Transformation of Media Production” is a qualitative study of content from advertising, film, and television which was made with the heavy or exclusive use of generative AI tools. It analyzes the selected pieces of content through the framework of Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality, and specifically as examples …

Continue reading “Post #8: “A copy of a copy of a copy.””

As I think about where I am with my project roughly halfway through this first semester, I’m feeling both confident in my idea but still intimidated by how much I have to learn in order to make it happen on both the research and production sides. My research has given me a deeper understanding of …

Continue reading “Post #7: Halftime”

Chapter 9 of the book Silent Wars, Smart Weapons: The Evolution and Geopolitics of Generational Warfare in the Age of AI by Saeed Ahmed makes the case that American hegemony is now based primarily on dominance of the algorithms that shape public awareness and perception as well as the technical infrastructure that enables them. The …

Continue reading “Post #6: Shaping perception in order to shape reality”

Margaret J. King’s article “Themeatics: The art of hyperreality” (2025) is an examination of how hyperreality can be a positive expression of human creativity and communication, and it uses Disneyland as its principal example. Essentially, King argues that the schemes originally devised by Walt Disney Imagineers to entertain guests and keep them immersed in the …

Continue reading “Post #5: The Most Magical Place on This or Any Earth!”

This week I found the article “From Reality to the Hyperreality of Simulation” by Paulo Barroso (2022). It explores how hyperreality relates to the concepts of virtual reality and simulation, detailing the distinctions between the concepts and how they combine with modern communications technology to reshape how we live our lives and perceive reality. Barroso …

Continue reading “Post #4: We Shall Live Forever in the Digital Glow”

The SCP Foundation is an ongoing collaborative work of fiction which began in 2008. It’s a wiki with presents itself as the archive of a secretive extra-governmental organization which has charged itself with protecting the world from anomalies – objects, beings, and even concepts which defy the laws of physics and conventional understanding, from a …

Continue reading “Post #3: “Don’t worry about it too much, whatever you think is the truth is probably good enough anyway.””

This week I came across the article “On the Apocalypse that No One Noticed” (Krevel, 2018), an introduction to an issue of the journal ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries. This issue featured articles concerning speculative fiction and science fiction in particular, and this introduction examines the specific subgenre of cyberpunk and its interaction …

Continue reading “Blog Post #2: “What if they gave an apocalypse and nobody noticed?””