Work on the Algorithm: AI Myths in Popular Science Media

The encounter of the public with artificial intelligence is increasingly mediated by a paradox: AI systems are presented as world-altering forces, yet their operations remain largely opaque, inaccessible, and resistant to everyday comprehension. This leads to a condition–what Hans Blumenberg calls the “absolutism of reality,” the existential angst generated by forces that exceed human comprehension, demanding narrative and symbolic management. Popular Science magazines, situated at the intersection of scientific communication and public imagination, precisely perform this function. Their covers do not just illustrate technology but translate its abstract terror into recognisable, emotionally resonant forms through what Blumenberg calls “Arbeit am Mythos” (work on myth). Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Blumenberg’s philosophy of myth and Barthes’ theory of myth as a second-order semiological system, we conduct a systematic visual semiotic analysis of covers from three major English science magazines: Scientific American, New Scientist and American Scientist, published between 2015 and 2025, collected through purposive sampling. The analysis identifies recurring mythic figures and narratives mapping the cultural negotiation between AI’s perceived menace and its utopian promise. In this paper we argue that these covers constitute a modern mythmaking around AI, and that mediated science communication is structurally dependent on Arbeit des Mythos (work of myth) to metabolise technological angst into cultural meaning.