Walter Benjamin-"Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

Yes. Indeed. According to Walter Benjamin, contemporary digital media can be said to have lost a true sense of artistic uniqueness. Benjamin believed that art made by skilled professionals was special because it had a true sense of the time and place that it was created. The original piece in itself held a history to it that included countless circumstances which led to its creation.
Benjamin argues that a photo shopped image, for example, loses all artistic value because it is merely an image produced by a machine that virtually anyone could create. It loses the requirement of skill and devotion from the artist and is basically just a creation of technology rather than human talent.
Digital things according to Benjamin lose the sense of "aura." He uses this term to describe a sense of profound appreciation for something that can only be triggered by a true and original piece of art. Benjamin believes that anything reproduced or altered mechanically loses this sense of originality, creativity, and overall uniqueness, and therefore holds no true "aura."
I personally do not fully agree with Walter Benjamin's view on art losing value in the digital age. Though it some ways this is true, for example simply copying or slightly altering some type of art digitally might cheapen it, I feel that there can also be exceptions. I believe an artist can create a totally unique and original piece of art, whether it be visual, audio, etc., through the means of digital technology while keeping it strictly through the forces of his/her own creativity. Just because technology can aid in art doesn't necessarily mean that the media in itself completely depreciates its value or sense of aura.