In the visual society, the pessimistic voices predict a bleak future of human enslavement to algorithms, biological mutation into an undesirable species, and even total disappearance. On the other hand, the optimistic voices declare that we will gradually adapt to technological advances, enjoying their benefits, or that a new era for humankind is dawning, which, surpassing biological limitations, will eventually colonize the universe and fulfill its destiny.

Is it possible to remain critical both of the gospel of the transhumanists—those advocating a liberated and happy humanity through technological progress—and of the dark prophecy of technophobia, namely, the dystopia of technocratic totalitarianism or the complete erasure of humanity? How might a reflective art of life look when we effortlessly delegate the management of choices and decision-making to algorithms in daily life to ease the burden of proliferating freedom?

The essays in this book aim to describe the current form of the visual society and some features of the visual subject as a new human type within the framework of digital humanism. The latter, as a project of self-awareness, explores what constitutes humanity by defending a relative—or perhaps the last—autonomy of humans against both algorithms and the digital image of the self.