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Benjamin Diptych. AI art Introduction The concept of scarcity spans both political economy and cultural theory. It is traditionally understood as the situation in which human desires exceed what is available. However, history shows that limitations on goods are not always due to natural constraints: often, they are intentionally produced. Walter Benjamin observed that mechanical reproduction transformed the experience of art by diluting its “aura.” Today, under digital capitalism, the logic of scarcity has not disappeared but has been reinvented. From the destruction of agricultural surpluses to the creation of unique blockchain tokens, value depends on mechanisms that artificially restrict abundance. Industrial Scarcity and Supply Control During the Industrial Revolution, abundance began to become a problem. Machines, railways, and factories multiplied production, but this expansion threatened to saturate markets and collapse prices. To counter this risk, producers and states re...