Artificial Intelligence is happening, whether we like it or not. Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century brought fears, a range of social issues and eventually, unrest. Similarly, but well over 200 years later, AI brings anxiety and insecurity. It is unavoidable that AI will affect negatively many people in multiple industries. Unlike our predecessors, we are not going to arm ourselves with guns and pikes and march against the machines. There is however the need to scrutinise the development of AI and analyse how it affects our lives.
On the other hand, I have no doubts that all these latest developments will enhance our lives, lead to improvements in our production processes and positively impact how we approach global problems. How AI will affect us, photographers? There are sadly dangers, for example, the lines between truth and fiction may get blurred, which in turn might lead to deception and confusion. Many professional photographers, especially photojournalists and those working in the stock industry will struggle, but for many, the postprocessing will become a breeze - all imperfections of any image will be corrected with a few key strokes on our computers. For others, experimental artistic souls, it will open-up practically unlimited creative possibilities and fascinating ideas. AI however will not replace the artistic eye and unique perspective we photographers have.
To those who say ‘I will never use AI’ I would like to point out how much we already rely on modern technology in our postprocessing. Think Adobe - you can remove objects, replace sky, change colours, use generative fill and presets, to name a few. Do I mind that some artists are going to embrace AI and create images with less effort? No, I do not, as long, as the created pieces are going to be interesting and I am not going to be misled how they were created. I myself, despite being more of a classic photographer, have been experimenting for the last few years with multiple layers and textures. Such images I always clearly mark as manipulated, and hope that all AI images will be marked accordingly. However, in contrast to all Photoshop processing techniques, AI generates content, therefore it may be a real threat to art and photography. For that, AI needs to be regulated internationally. I am hopeful that soon some international standards will be agreed on, and followed. For now, I leave you with my latest image, ‘Agua Azul’ – no filters, no complex postprocessing, no AI. Just pure joy of observing nature and finding what pleases me the most, the sea dancing in front of me. AI can wait, for now…
Beata Moore
Discover. Experience. Create
