also known as Looking through An Ad Window.
“Coin of the Realm” shows what an iPhone depicts when an advertisement is between it and the view. Looking through a cloak of publicity suspends belief in objectivity, neutrality, stability, and truth-telling. Bear in mind that these images are unaltered.
This is information in ambiguity, and ambiguity in information. Two sides of the same coin. Coincidentally, Instagram once tagged it branded content.
These photos are made through the window of a bus whose exterior is covered with a see-through ad. Focussed on the ad’s dot pattern, the camera produces abundant and exuberant so-called malfunctions, rendering the scenery like an illusion. The closer one looks, the more difficult it is to decipher.
My iPhone uses iOS 18.1, software released in 2024 which includes Apple Intelligence enhancements aka AI. Their press release mentions admitted potential for “unreliability and hallucinations1“. So, I’ve made this work with AI? Not explicitly, or directly, however, inadvertently and apparently inescapably. It’s now part of the process.
In 2022, an earlier iPhone operating system output this curtain-like, penny tile effect shown below, offering different insight into the processor’s organizational principles—ssomewhat orderly yet still cryptic and vague.
- “Tim Cook: Apple Intelligence Isn’t Immune to Hallucinations,” PCMag.com, June 11, 2024.
- iOS 18 Features and Updates: Exploring the Amazing Redesigned Photos App, December 22, 2024. As of iOS 18.1, the software uses Apple Intelligence (i.e. AI) to enhance the camera output.