The expansion of generative artificial intelligence models, the refinement of deepfake technologies, advanced image synthesis, and even the filtering of reality through augmented and virtual reality are transforming previous demands on origin, “truthfulness” (Hito Steyerl, Jean Baudrillard), and the values of visual communication. Yet this issue does not concern manipulation alone — it also points to a deeper shift in the very framework through which we recognize and, above all, perceive authenticity. Continuous existence on the threshold between the physical and the virtual changes our visual sensitivity: we adapt to synthetic images (Lev Manovich, Katherine Hayles), refine our ability to recognize their origins (Peter Weibel), while simultaneously feeling less and less need to do so. The artificial becomes emotionally valid. We inhabit hybrid landscapes and situations (Joanna Zylinska, Jussi Parikka).

The topic traces the shifts in aesthetics, technical possibilities, and the ethics of image production at the interface, but also transformations in viewers’ needs, expectations, and sensitivity to hybrid imagery on an individual level — and their influence on the need to anchor identity in a rapidly changing world. It explores authenticity not as a static value but as a dynamic relationship between author, technology, audience, and a world that no longer exists merely “in front of the lens.”

The focus of the issue also opens up questions of the ethics of technological progress — linked to the broader social discourse on environmental impact, colonial heritage, marginalization of minorities, and other contemporary topics — seeking new methodologies that allow us to understand the authenticity of the image within wider societal contexts.