A quick note… I should have mentioned, when talking about product photography, that there are legal necessities when showing a product that, ultimately, would require the use of a photograph over CG or AI imagery. I meant to include that in the video and just realised I got ahead of myself.
Hi Steve - great discussion. I won't stop taking photos as you note painters still paint. I want to learn, to improve my photography and I can't from someone presenting me with undeclared AI images so it'll change who I trust and who I follow (if they go AI). Most news is no longer consumed on news outlets - that's a worry. AI images were used for scam fundraising after the Syria/Turkey earthquake and less honest organisations will use AI to stoke division and push agenda. The AI machines have to learn and it seems they will learn and use as base images any image - copyright will no longer apply (UK government is already leaning that way) but at least an AI image won't be copyright protected either. AI has only just started. Quality will improve - people won't be able to tell the difference, people will be fooled. May be it's the end of photo sharing?
I totally agree, if you're trying to learn, you don't want to learn something from someone who has 'cheated' the results you're trying to achieve. that makes perfect sense. But, I think there is a difference between access to tools that help us (like Topaz, for example) and outright faking things. I've made plenty of AI images. I don't pretend they're photographs. Also, I like playing with photoshop to get great results, but I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. When I do landscapes, I try to remain as true to the original as I can. Actually, there was an interesting discussion about portraiture the other day. A photographer had shot a wedding, come home only to find that in all of photos, the bride had a massive spot. We tune these things out when we're just looking at people, but you can't do that on a photograph. So, they suggested that the end photo you need to provide is one that looks like what someone would see if they're actually standing there. That's not a bad philosophy for editing... Of course, some images on this channel (I did a horror photoshop composite for Halloween one year) are more digital art than photography, but they still have that photography at their heart. AI, for the most part, is different. Yes, there's a problem with news outlets being dishonest, but that's not a problem because of AI. They've done that for decades, photoshoping or misattributing images in reports. But none of that will change photography, as such. I think a lot of people are more concerned that they're not going to get anywhere on social media with their images than anything else... But, that's been the case for several years now, and well before AI became a thing. It's not going to change the commercial reality of AI not being able to replace photos or of photographers wanting to take photographs.
A quick note… I should have mentioned, when talking about product photography, that there are legal necessities when showing a product that, ultimately, would require the use of a photograph over CG or AI imagery. I meant to include that in the video and just realised I got ahead of myself.
Hi Steve - great discussion. I won't stop taking photos as you note painters still paint. I want to learn, to improve my photography and I can't from someone presenting me with undeclared AI images so it'll change who I trust and who I follow (if they go AI). Most news is no longer consumed on news outlets - that's a worry. AI images were used for scam fundraising after the Syria/Turkey earthquake and less honest organisations will use AI to stoke division and push agenda. The AI machines have to learn and it seems they will learn and use as base images any image - copyright will no longer apply (UK government is already leaning that way) but at least an AI image won't be copyright protected either. AI has only just started. Quality will improve - people won't be able to tell the difference, people will be fooled. May be it's the end of photo sharing?
I totally agree, if you're trying to learn, you don't want to learn something from someone who has 'cheated' the results you're trying to achieve. that makes perfect sense. But, I think there is a difference between access to tools that help us (like Topaz, for example) and outright faking things. I've made plenty of AI images. I don't pretend they're photographs. Also, I like playing with photoshop to get great results, but I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. When I do landscapes, I try to remain as true to the original as I can.
Actually, there was an interesting discussion about portraiture the other day. A photographer had shot a wedding, come home only to find that in all of photos, the bride had a massive spot. We tune these things out when we're just looking at people, but you can't do that on a photograph. So, they suggested that the end photo you need to provide is one that looks like what someone would see if they're actually standing there. That's not a bad philosophy for editing...
Of course, some images on this channel (I did a horror photoshop composite for Halloween one year) are more digital art than photography, but they still have that photography at their heart.
AI, for the most part, is different. Yes, there's a problem with news outlets being dishonest, but that's not a problem because of AI. They've done that for decades, photoshoping or misattributing images in reports.
But none of that will change photography, as such.
I think a lot of people are more concerned that they're not going to get anywhere on social media with their images than anything else... But, that's been the case for several years now, and well before AI became a thing. It's not going to change the commercial reality of AI not being able to replace photos or of photographers wanting to take photographs.