‘“Hauntology“ is a blend of the words “haunting“ and “ontology”, suggesting that the present is “haunted” by what no longer exists. As opposed to ontology, hauntology is less about what there is and what things are, than about ways the past continues to affect the present. Referencing a statement by Hito Steyerl, who said that the “statistical renderings” generated by image models don’t refer to the world but to the totality of crap online, my talk investigates proposals for an ontology of generative AI, especially AI generated images. I conclude that we are in urgent need of a hauntology of generative AI and sketch out what it might look like.’