Artificial intelligence has brought many things to our world and to our visual culture. Through these computers, it is possible to see things we never thought we would see, never desired to see and never imagined we would need to see. But we do need to see this, because these artificial intelligences are us, or at least our data. To look at these AI-generated images is to gaze into a mirror, seeing what the internet actually is, as represented by a machine designed to reproduce the patterns that are most apparent on the web.

On Reddit, at /r/weirddalle, posters share their strangest image generations. Whether it's DALL-E or Midjourney, these images are the electric nightmares of intelligences based, for now, on plastic and silicone.

Or they may be the early rumblings of a new kind of cyber-monster, poised to dominate, thirsty for a chance to lead. These are the marks of its dreams for the world to come.