A.I. Photography - Are we doomed?

nerwin · Apr 12, 2023

A.I. generated photography has been in your face lately, I keep seeing discussions and videos/podcasts about it. I'm not going to lie, I feel a little worried and scared if I'm being honest. I'm having a very hard time wrapping my head around this. It's not just photography though, it is affecting all mediums of art. These A.I generations can mimic just about any medium and looks so realistic that sometimes you can't even tell.

I've came across many photos that I thought were real and falsely marked as being real because the person who made the A.I image tagged it with a particular camera & lens or certain film stock.

I'm not a professional photographer, the most professional stuff I did was selling prints and now I can't even do that anymore because folks don't want to buy prints and support artists so I gave it up. With all this A.I. about it taking over photography or making actual REAL photography less authentic has put my motivation into this form of art at an all time low. I don't even feel like taking pictures anymore it has got me so bummed out. The funny thing is, photography is just a hobby, I don't know its affecting me this much.

I realize that A.I. Photograph can never be real photography as photography requires light to be captured either on film or a sensor. A.I generator like MidJourney for example can't because its purely code and samples from real photography. It also can't replace the physical act of going out with your camera, being in nature or walking the street (or where ever else) and taking pictures on film or digital. But we are moving into a direction where everything can be done from prompts. Oh you need to write an essay for class? ChatGBT got you covered! How about that best number on seller novel you bought that was completely written by an A.I.? What about that new song on you heard on the radio that you loved which turned out to be A.I. with a human voice that doesn't exist?

I feel like the authenticity of any creative is becoming lower and lower everyday this A.I. stuff advances. Do people really want pictures of their special moments in life, like a new born child or their wedding be solely captured by an A.I.? I was reading about some kind of development of a robotic camera that will replace wedding photographers. Human photographers won't be needed because this robotic camera thing powered by an A.I. will take pictures for you. It's like people don't want the human element anymore. It's pretty scary to me.

The only good I can see coming from this is eventually people will get sick and tired of seeing fake photographs and A.I generated content and will pay MORE money for creations made by an actual human being.

I don't know what to even think anymore, I feel so lost and morally confused about all this. Maybe I'm overthinking and overreacting. I don't like the way society is going but I also know that there is little to nothing I can do about it.

I know people will probably respond negatively to my post, but I am free to share my opinion and view on it.

dunfly · Apr 12, 2023

Don't worry about it. Pretty soon AI is going to take over the world and eliminate all of us.

santino · Apr 12, 2023

Skynet, huh?

webestang64 · Apr 12, 2023

Hasta la vista baby!

Jeff15 · Apr 12, 2023

Not in my lifetime but I will pass this on to the grand kids... :onthego:

AlanKlein · Apr 13, 2023

As long as it doesn't take over sex.

smoke665 · Apr 13, 2023

AlanKlein said:
As long as it doesn't take over sex.

What makes you think it isn't already happening? Google it :excitement:

smoke665 · Apr 13, 2023

The problem with AI and Art, is when things become "to easy", it cheapens the result, and diminishes the individual creative value added by the artist.

wobe · Apr 17, 2023

Yep.

Sony World Photography Award 2023: Winner refuses award after revealing AI creation

ndcisiv · Apr 17, 2023

It's not the Photography AI that is going to doom us. It's the "black box" that they still don't understand how or why AI is leaning the way it is. Learning an entirely new language that you weren't supposed to know or learn because somebody input a question in that language? The least of my worries is "was this portrait real or AI generated".

But to each their own I suppose, cheers!

Brooklyn Albertan · Apr 29, 2023

I just found a cheap, Chinese made Vivitar Mini on the in-laws farm last week. Looking for batteries, there it was. No batteries needed - it is a cheap piece of plastic that can take pictures. It's raw - and real. That's something AI not only can never give us, but one of the many reasons I have no interest in following it's advance. Give me a cheap piece of plastic and some Superia 400 (and some black tape to guard against light leaks!), and I become a curious human being. I teach my kids the same. They embrace the same. Thankfully.

Stay "organic" creatively, and nutritionally (if you can afford it!). Be free. Never surrender. What makes it all simple, makes it special.

Pax.

PhotoHobbyist · Apr 29, 2023

AI will be like "auto-tune" has been to music. Seems like 90% of music on the radio today has auto-tuned the singers and you can instantly identify it. Auto-tune makes anyone into a perfect pitch singer. When you hear a talented singer not using auto-tune you know it. I'm sure that will be true for AI too.

John 2 · May 25, 2023

Have a look at this. You will be impressed and I guess, just a bit concerned. I don't think I have any problems with its ability to delete from an image. There are already several ways in which PS can do that. This just makes it easier. What frightens me is the software's ability to add what is not there in the first place in a way that is often undetectable. God help competition judges.

nerwin · May 25, 2023

John 2 said:
Have a look at this. You will be impressed and I guess, just a bit concerned. I don't think I have any problems with its ability to delete from an image. There are already several ways in which PS can do that. This just makes it easier. What frightens me is the software's ability to add what is not there in the first place in a way that is often undetectable. God help competition judges.

That's the fear I have. I myself often remove minor distractions in photos and I don't think theres anything wrong with that. You're not changing the story of the photo you've taken...if anything you are improving it. If I take a landscape and there's someones water bottle or garbage in the grass you bet I'm going to remove it.

I've come across photos that I thought were real but it turns out they simply don't exist and that made me upset. It almost ruins photography for me. A.I. generators can even mimic film photography almost perfectly now...so even shooting film isn't going to fix anything because only YOU know it's real. Nobody else does. It's sad and I hope, I really really hope that eventually people won't like it once this initial "high" from A.I. wears away and people will want genuine photography instead.

webestang64 · May 25, 2023

Sometimes straight digital photos will not work.
A friend of mine is a PI and needed to re-take photos of evidence in a murder case. He called me to take the photos because I still shoot film and the lawyers wanted to have the film as a back up in case the other lawyers wanted to know if the photos were manipulated.