01/21/2026
This photo is in my top three favourite historical images of all time. There is something magical about the exact moment the camera caught this interaction between two young women during the First World War. Whatever joke or laugh they shared is frozen, yet lost to history, and I feel that is where the beauty lies. AI could animate this, sure, but wouldn't that cheapen the story? The movements wouldn't be theirs, not authentic in the least bit; we would be intruding on a moment that isn't ours to be part of, we weren't invited. In a historical sense is AI cool or is it destructive? Does it increase historical reflection or does it simply blend powerful images such as this into the blurry sea of other AI-generated nonsense? We are fighting a loosing battle in the historical world against AI, I just hope we can hang onto some of the true authenticity for a bit longer before it is gone.
