AI Magazine Covers Throughout the Decades

A Collection of 80+ Magazine Covers

I previously posted my collection of privacy magazine covers. Here’s my collection of magazine covers involving AI, the internet, and related digital technologies.

I collected more than 80 magazine covers from the 1950s to the present. I’m excited to share my collection with you. If you have any covers I’ve missed, please share them with me.

I’ll begin with a quick look, then I’ll include larger images later.

Also scroll down to the very end to see my favorite covers, including my top 3 and see if you agree with me.

1950-1959

Time, January 23, 1950

Time, March 28, 1955

Popular Electronics, December 1958

Time, February 23, 1959

1960-1969

Time, April 2, 1965

Newsweek, January 25, 1965

1970-1979

Byte, August 1976

Time, February 20, 1978

Mad, April 1978

Byte, April 1979

1980-1989

Byte, January 1980

Time, December 8, 1980

Byte, April 1981

Byte, June 1981

Byte, September 1981

Time, May 3, 1982

Byte, May 1983

Byte, January 1984

Byte, October 1984

Time, March 1, 1985

Mad, October 1985

Byte, January 1986

Omni, November 1987

Time, March 28, 1988

1990-1999

Mad, Summer 1991

The New Yorker, October 7, 1991

Time, February 8, 1993

Time, April 12, 1993

Time, July 25, 1994

Time, March 25, 1996

Time, February 3, 1997

Time, May 10, 1999

Mad, December 1999

2000-2009

Time, March 27, 2006

Scientific American, January 2007

The New York Times Magazine, July 29, 2007

The New Yorker, May 12, 2008

The New Yorker, May 12, 2008

The New Yorker, May 11, 2009

2010-2019

The New Yorker, November 12, 2010

The Economist, June 2, 2012

The Economist, March 29, 2014

Popular Science, November 2014

Newsweek, March 7, 2015

The Economist, May 9, 2015

Mad, February 29, 2016

The Economist, June 25, 2016

Newsweek, June 2, 2017

The New Yorker, October 23, 2017

The Economist, March 31, 2018

New York Times Magazine, November 18, 2018

The New Yorker, May 20, 2019

Stanford Magazine, July 2019

The New Yorker, September 30, 2019

Time, November 4, 2019

2020-present

The Economist, June 11-17, 2022

Time Special Edition 2023

The Economist, April 22-28, 2023

The New Yorker, April 24 & May 1, 2023

Maclean’s, October 12, 2023

This cover was AI generated.

Science, July 14, 2023

Harvard Business Review, July-August 2023

Time, August 14, 2023

Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 2023

The Humanist, Fall 2023

The New Yorker, November 20, 2023

The Economist, March 30 – April 5, 2024

Scientific American, April 2024

Popular Science, August 2, 2024

MIT Technology Review, May/June 2024

Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 2024

Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2025

Mad, February 2025

The New Yorker, February 17 & 24, 2025

Newsweek, March 4, 2025

MIT Technology Review, March/April 2025

MIT Technology Review, May/June 2025

Time, December 28, 2025

Scientific American, January 2026

Scientific American, March 2026

New Internationalist, Mar/Apr 2026

The New Yorker, April 13, 2026

The Best AI Magazine Cover of All Time

I thought it would be fun to rank my favorites, so here they are, including my nomination for the best. You’ll see that I like the funny ones, as well as ones that have something to say.

And now, my favorite, which features one of the best AI cartoons I’ve seen.

If you enjoyed these AI covers, you might also enjoy my privacy magazine cover collection.

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Daniel J. Solove is the Bernard Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the George Washington University Law School. He is the founder of TeachPrivacy, a company that provides workforce privacy, cybersecurity security, and AI training to companies and organizations around the world. He is the author of 10+ books and 100+ articles.

You can follow his events, writings, training, cartoons, and resources by subscribing to his free weekly newsletter.