As a CG character animator who got my start in the mid 1990s, i had to learn to accept that motion capture (or mocap) was not the end of my career. I was full of fear at first but soon realized that it simply became a tool. Your advice about folding A.I. into your workflow is about as sound as good advice gets. Cheers from Northern California
I've been a commercial retoucher since 1973 and have been witness to these discussions since the mid 80's when the digital revolution became a real threat to my airbrushes and future. Accept AI and add it to your toolkit. Reinvent yourself if you have to. Talent, hard work and personality will never become obsolete.
Some of our backstories aren’t that interesting - I’m just a dude and my dad got me a camera when I was young and I liked it. A lot of us are introverts, a lot of us can’t create a captivating narrative or build our image like you said. Heck chatGPT can create a better story than I can. This is all overwhelming and it feels hopeless
You’re missing the point. Sure, chat GPT can come up with a story, but of course it will necessarily be derivative, contrived and fake. People are interested in people, it’s that simple. Some will go to a mall or park simply to “people watch” complete strangers without knowing *any* backstory about them. I have a hard time believing there’s nothing interesting in your personal story….even what you mentioned about your dad giving you a camera and starting your journey is compelling. Photography is story telling….I’m sure you can translate that into your personal narrative that is uniquely yours, and interesting. Chin up…find your niche, I believe there will be a resurgence of demand for “real” images, even if only by a minority.
There is an old saying, "fake it till you make it". I work in a retail type of business. I have to interact with people a lot even though I am more of a loner type. It is not natural to me to be friendly and smiling but I just forget about myself and try to be helpful to people and it works out fine. A lot of people appreciate me. Also, sit down and do an inventory of your life and your interests. Take time to get to know yourself better and then you'll have some things to work with and ultimately share. You are probably far more interesting than you imagine.
What did you like about the camera? What did you do with that camera? Did you go outside to shoot the world? Or stay in side and shoot your world? There’s a story there, you just don’t think it’s interesting because you lived it already
You don't need to create a narrative just let people know your real narrative. You might thing you narrative is "boring" but it is real and othe people may find it really interesting. ChatGPT can create a story but it cannot tell your story regardless of how "boring" you may think it is better than you can.
You may think your story isn't that interesting, but I'm already wondering why you liked the camera your dad got you. You may think what got you there are just some small, mundane details, but I'm waiting to hear what those details were and I probably haven't even seen one of your photos.
I feel for those trying to make a living at photography. I'm thankful that my photography is for myself, nobody else. I process minimally, only as needed to convey what I felt when I took it. Hoping that AI doesn't cut into your work here. I enjoy your presentations even when they have no application for me.
Many photographers take photos just because they want to get outside, walk wilderness trails, see nature, get exercise, and document their journey. Getting paid to take photos may be a thing of the past like so many other previous occupations, such as you noted horse-riding saddles. Smart phones today are capable of capturing phenomenal images/videos of weddings and other family events. Anyone can do that. As for me, I will continue to capture images with my dedicated camera (a Sony RX10 IV) because of ergonomics/telephoto/megapixels capabilities. When smartphones add telephoto capability, I'll gladly ditch the bulk/weight of my Sony RX10 IV camera, but will always eschew A.I. technology in photography.
Back in 2004, I had a Samsung color mobile phone that had a fantastic collection of photos as wallpapers, one of which was of a bee in a flower that I loved, I used to look at it for the sake of looking at it, tried to recreate it but didn’t manage, so I started looking, we didn’t have internet back then and I did not have any money to go to an internet shop to look things up, so I started looking for books, in French, and there was only one, luckily my uncle was into photography and he borrowed me his film Minolta with a telephoto lens and that’s where I knew It is something I want to do for the rest of my life, after years of practice and learning through payed and free courses, I am the photography geek that I am, soon to be a proud Leica owner and a hobbyist street and environmental portrait photographer.
I was a crime scene photographer when digital first came out. Everyone was worried about it. Digital images were banned from some court rooms as evidence…for a while. Then the whole thing just sort of evaporated. The system adjusted. Your point about the “photographer” being part of the story and a relatable person, I’m going to predict that won’t hold for long. How long do you think it will be before there will be multiple AI’s with names and personalities that creat images? Some might even watch your RUclips videos!
AI scares the hell out of me for images that could be well faked but used in a criminal or civil case. IMHO i think crime scene photographers need to go back to film because of AI
@@josephwright1986 Yeah, because then they would need to hire an expert to determine if they are authentic or AI generated, or... use AI to do that. This is a can of worms. 😢
@@josephwright1986 Film can be faked too. How do you know the film camera was pointed at a real scene and not at an evenly lit print of a fake digital photo? A photographer is just a witness - the other side can cross-examine them about how they produced the photo, and the court will have to decide whether to believe them or not.
There’s one guy I’ve been following on IG who does amazing portrait/street photography, and I always thought that they were actual photos, as they looked so real and authentic, but when I learned that they were AI, I felt deflated. It just isn’t the same.
This could open the door to photographers that hold a qualification in photography, you would the not just be qualified but qualify the work you offer…. A certificate of authenticity and a seal of approval…. Print print print…. The LASTING memory
In the end I don't care that much about my job, or I do, but there are other jobs out there, What I DO care about is the authenticity and the joy of taking REAL photos of real things in real time!
Great advice, especially for professional photographers or those who want to be. Personally, I'm one of those "others" you referred to -- just happy to take photos and work on them. I do both film and digital depending on the subject/situation. It's about the process for me.
Great insights folks. I would only add, that it’s a good idea to make the photoshoot itself an amazing, fun and unique experience for your clients. Take them to a crazy location or bring in extraordinary talent. Make the shoot itself the goal with the photos being a byproduct of that memorable experience. Make sure people leave your photoshoots exhausted and totally stoked. A.I. cannot conduct an adventurous photoshoot.
This premise sounds good. I just don't think even that will matter to most people. Most people don't want to be exhausted and stoked. They want convenience. That's what A.I. offers perhaps more than anything.
I been taking pictures since I was 12 years old and I love it no matter if ai does take over I'm still doing my photography till I'm too old and can't eny more thanks you guys love listening to you Paul. 😊
I do photography as a hobby, but I am an illustrator by trade. Many of my cohorts, if not most of them, are very worried about being replaced by AI. However, I have found myself busier than ever lately. One publisher who often contracts with me asked me my thoughts on AI recently, and it developed into an interesting conversation. He told me that they, as a smaller publisher, can't afford to hire illustrators to do everything they want, so traditionally they simply would print without as many illustrations, or they would hire less experienced illustrators and put out lower quality products. Now they are using a combination of quality illustrators to do the important pieces, such as book covers, and use AI to do less important bits such as page fillers or interior artwork for anthologies and so forth. This allows them to put out better products for less money, increasing their revenue, which permits them to pay for more commissions from illustrators like myself. For my part, I have been using AI to generate thumbnail concepts, to generate loose reference subjects, and play around with composition, color, and lighting to help with the creative process. One thing that AI sucks at currently is composition. There is a tremendous bias for it to make images that are roughly bi-symmetrical. It struggles with the golden ratio, and it doesn't understand how to pose people even when you tell it to use profile, or 3/4 profile, etc. It still wants to make people face the camera head-on. It is making a lot of progress, but there is still a great need for quality illustrators. But like with the advent of Photoshop, or even the advent of photography itself, the technology will be a boon to many and a bane to others. The trick is learning to navigate the changing technology to stay relevant.
I own a landscape photography gallery, can’t really see any of my customers wanting AI imagery any time soon, as they’re paying for authenticity and my personal interpretation on a real moment in time. My view is that AI will replace a lot of lower value, mass produced photography where the ‘experience’ of making the image has no value to the end user (stock, real estate, some product etc) but much of that market has little value already anyway (look at stock photography royalties today). I think there will be plenty of room for imagery where the experience of making it is still valued by the client - I think the AI worry is one for photographers who already don’t see much value in their own work.
I currently live on the central Oregon Coast. A lot of retirees have moved here to pursue their hobbies, one of those being photography. And a lot of tourists come here with the primary intent of taking beautiful photographs. I have sold images but I am so glad that it is not my career or I would be starving. If I want to photograph a seascape or a striking sunset, then I am in competition with a lot of other people. Cameras have gotten so good that it is hard to take a bad picture. Since I don’t sell photo services, I am trying to focus on capturing moments in time that cannot be duplicated, such as a facial expression, animals or street photography. That may mean I pursue photography as a hobby or people will purchase an image if it strikes them right then and you as the artist are there to tell the story. As to landscape images, I won’t be able to compete with AI except that my photo might be in the client’s hands and they don’t have to create one on MidJourney or other sites.
To be honest I really love the denoise and upscaling AI features. I'm more interested in those tools that enhance my photo without altering the contents or style of it. Enhance x8, go print large :)
Fine art photographer here. I’m not too worried about AI. And the perfection is part of why. A big part of what I do is to make images that are not perfect. But also, I’m mindful of art history. Photography was supposed to make painting obsolete. But people still paint. And people still make a living at it. And I think the same is true of AI and photography. Right now, a lot of people want to limit photography to just reproducing whatever they see. Boring and highly limiting. But painting got freed from that by photography and I think photography will be freed from it by AI. And admittedly I’m told I have quite a good story. Got hurt serving overseas. Underwent multiple surgeries and years of rehab. I was medically retired. Needed a way to reinvent myself. Urged by friends to write a photo book. Told them they were nuts, but decided to post photos on Instagram. Suddenly I got an ambassador role, requests for publication, asked to teach, and I’m in galleries. And who knows what else is coming? So I guess that helps.
Yeah I think this desire for "perfect" images is weird. A lot of the things that would be considered an artist's style or quirks that are unique to their work would be considered imperfection if you were looking purely for a perfection based image. Real and unique should take precedence over perfection when it comes to artmaking.
I can see imperfection becoming desirable to differentiate sensor-captured pics from AI-generated pics. Grain, bokeh, weird lighting, wrong exposure, slightly off saturation and vibrance, things that the AI will have to learn to make their perfect images LESS precise to catch up.
Your comment about senior portraits caught me. I like being just an amateur photographer and only do photos for family and friends. My last month I did photos for my daughter and her friends as they got ready for their senior prom. I didn't set up any backdrop and just used our front yard for the shoot. This was the same time PS dropped the Beta version with AI. So I played with it for fun and it amazed me that given the right shot, I could really manipulate the scene with a realistic scenario. I don't know what to think of this. It was nice to change the scene given I didn't prep the background for the shots, but at the same time I felt it looses some of the real life and story telling. For now I see myself just using AI as a fun tool. I am still of the nature that when I present a photo on social media, in my personal prints, or the photo groups I belong to, it has to be 100% me unless I a tell otherwise.
I wonder how valuable these top tier cameras and lenses will be in the very near future, what will happen to Canon, Sony, Nikon etc, AI is advancing so fast, they must be worried about their imaging companies, I’ve not invested in anymore high end gear since last year, I’ll just do landscape photography for myself, I know how people love fake things, just look at instagram, that’s how human beings have become.
Exactly! I now have little desire to upgrade my camera gear. No need for more megapixels, as AI, in the future, will be able to easily upscale low quality images far better than what is possible from Topaz and other companies today.
I like how you thought out so many great points...bookmarked for future reference! Part of the appeal of street photography is capturing amazing moments. Not crafting concepts. It allows people to wonder how a great photographer sees the same thing they are seeing, and makes great art out of what passes most people by.
I think this will go like analogue recordings- vinyl came back for a reason, tube amps are still a thing. The human aspect is what photography is, connections with meaning not just generic factory made stuff, people want to feel something, experience something not just waste away on blandness. Also that line "the Pope is cool as hell" 😂
It is the journey, the story, the photographer that can never be replaced. Photography is my passion not my income source so sort of not qualified to chime in…. Thanks for this Tony & Chelsea!
I love all of your content and watch until the end every time. You two bring order to the seeming chaos of the ever changing role of photographers and how we might move forward continuing to do what we are passionate about. I have a real suggestion going forward for your videos; I enjoy the cozy, at home atmosphere of your videos and the super high quality lighting, your set creation and the nice pleasing colors. I ask that you please consider altering your graphics sections that are stark white with black lettering to a more 'dark mode' version such as medium grey with white lettering or black lettering. I am often in darkened rooms and these slides with graphics on super bright white give me snow blindness effects. I hope this is constructive and it should not take away from the fantastic work & efforts you put into your video content creation. Have a wonderful week.
It's more of a challenge to get a good pic w/o AI. I think this opens my eyes to a camera instead of the latest galaxy ultra for wildlife. Thank you Tony and Chelsea!
Brilliant! One thing is for sure you guys will still be around, because as you say people invest in people. Almost all the folks who follow and comment and in some cases buy my work know me. They know about my crazy life, I even did a blog thingy entitled A cat has only nine lives. So your right people like to know about these adventures and AI can not make this connection. I would say that we should stop even thinking about AI as any thing to do with photography, it isn't. It's digital art. For me photography is about capturing light via a lens and camera, this is the only way a photo can be produce. Thanks for posting.
3:25 Getting half of them right would have been well above the expected value for randomly guessing the photos because many of them had more than two choices
Another great skip through the dark and scary AI woods. I filmed a video about this a few days ago (not published yet), where I hit on most of the issues you’ve mentioned here. Some people’s careers will be ruined, for sure. Some will remain untouched. Those who shoot for pleasure would do well to remember what matters most: the process; the practice, the joy of being in the moment, and capturing something only you experienced in that moment. Viewed this way, the image itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as the experience of creating it.
One thing AI will never change, that's my motivation for photography. It isn't money or a desire to quit my day job, but rather the compulsion I feel daily to take that photo... I agree that making some money back is a welcomed side effect of this compulsion and up till now has helped me bootstrap my studio, but I'd make that investment anyway because of this compulsion.
I am 100% a hobby photographer. When I show my pictures to people they trust me when I tell them that I took that myself. Oddly, people the trust me with all kinds of things. But I'm not trying to get a million likes on Instagram, I just like taking the nice picture of some odd thing that no one else in the world would have noticed, and showing it to people that I like. That's it. That's all I need.
In my country applies, that when you want make incom from photography, you have to be better enterpriser than photohgrapher. You could be underaverage (or even miserable, or near to miserable) photographer wiht biggest incom between photographers, but if you are not good enterpriser, you can be best photographer on the world, and you will be happy if you earn money for bubbles in water. Maybe (just maybe), with arrival AI this will change? 🤷♂
Some industries are safe. AI Photos cannot replace a wedding photographer covering the day, and to my experience Brides don't like fake images on their day. They want real emotional moments captured. Real estate photos might be mostly safe, however staging furniture inside a room photographed, can be added by digital overlay files already being done for some high end homes as a paid option. Event coverage is mostly safe. Lots of other areas in photography can be impacted by AI Photos. Some photographers should add AI tools to their workflow because their creativity cannot really be replaced. Photographers may have to pivot to add graphic design options to their photos and use AI tools some of the time. Photoshop has repair and generative fill which will be used often.
I believe AI will have a impact on wedding photography. Definitely, it's a tradition and the photographer is part of that tradition so it won't eliminate the field, but it will reduce it even further than smartphones already have. Even today many people skip paying a wedding photographer and just put up a hashtag for everyone to share their photos and videos. In the near future, AI will be able to take simple snapshots and make them look like professionally posed and lit wedding photos, and nobody will be able to tell they're not real.
8:24 Agreed, brand will be an important factor in a world where nothing is real. The story behind a work of art has always had more value than the art itself. Unfortunately, most artists want the art to speak for them...but it can't. Historically, artist could never afford to be quiet, introverted, nerds. The more popular they were and the wider their network, the more successful they were. Actual artistic talent isn't really that important because its hard to relate to.
You are ever so right. I always considered my work as progressing towards the future. Here again a crossroad. Let us cross the road and advance once again.
Such mixed feelings about AI - on the one hand it's inevitable, and on the other, wasn't it supposed to replace all the boring jobs and not the one we love to do...? Not worried so much about the creative aspect of it since as you've pointed out, technologies are constantly being replaced by the next thing. I'm not ready to jump on board to create imagery with it, but I have been inspired by it! A friend created a "fashion" series which I realized I could replicate with good ol' fashioned photography. They turned out great, and blow people's minds when I show them my images. But combining the technologies in a composite (with unique or expensive props created in AI) sounds interesting and might be something to explore.
Great clip, but straight after watching it, youtube auto fed me another camera review. That just makes me think AI will mostly be used to exploit the average sucker's spending habits. I think what we should be doing, is exactly what you suggest, and that is putting our own personal stories into the photos or their descriptions. Good thinking guys!
Your results: Artworks (4/4), Photos (6/7), Texts (2/4), Memes (1/2) I think it scares me MORE that I can't differentiate text... Memes are inconsequential (to me), but a major avenue of fact-finding is through research, and to think that documents could be easily relayed without human oversight for accuracy scares the living daylights out of me.
The artificial doesn't satisfy like reality can, but many will settle for this. The career Photographer as we know him or her today will disappear into oblivion. Those that remain will continue to enjoy the process of capturing real things and people; connecting with audiences that appreciate the same.
Since AI photos are necessarily derivative and not “original,” the coming crunch for photographers and therefore camera companies will create a self-referential loop, since a growing number of images in the pool to draw information from for new images will themselves be non-originals. AI really needs a healthy and ever expanding pool of originals to draw from to make relevant, unique and up to date images. A good number of people will reject “fake” eventually.
Tony & Chelsea thank you so much for your insight into AI. My thoughts are that AI is going to be dominant only for static photos. You can use AI to enhance a photo. Photographers can still originate or capture the initial photo, therefore still having a job, and use AI to embellish the captured photo. Like Chelsea was saying, there’s nothing like being present to capture the original photo, that’s something AI cannot do.
Can A.I. help us detect A.I.-generated (FAKE) photos then? People seem to be bound to love FAKE for FAME. I wish A.I. had warned us it's going to get worse!
I enjoy doing art walks here and there and showcasing my photography. It’s much more gratifying then just getting likes on Instagram. I don’t sell a crazy amount…but I do feel half of the reason I sell is people enjoy my personality and feel compelled to support my art.
Hi I currently live in Germany bought Sony a7c last year, very pleased with it, I'm looking now to upgrade to 7rv mainly for 2 card option. And here's the thing... I was looking at the prices and I feel like a crazy person. Why are we using cards like Sony Cf express Tough 512gb 1480 MB/s write speeds for 425 euros when Samsung 980 pro 1 tb NVMe SSD costs 85 euros and has 5000 MB/s write speed ? We buy whole camera grips for additional battery couldn't camera makers make one for NVMe SSD ?? Wouldn't it be easier to build one in the camera ? Spending almost thousand euros just for memory seams crazy to me.
Saddle makers still make money and it's still a thing except it is now become a niche luxury item vs and everyday item everyone needs. There are people who don't horses who will sometimes buy an artistic hand made saddle to hang on the wall like a piece of artwork even its not used as a functional piece. In the same way I think non AI photography will still be bought as a luxury collectible item. Now you just need to get into that market. As you stated I could see the appeal for film, especially because the option of selling the original negative at a premium is not something AI can replace. AI is not just going to create physical film negative and if you are selling that at a premium price kind of like an original painting vs limited edition prints and reproductions that is a different ball game.
I am using AI to make my workflow faster removing dbl chins or add and removing objects. I do think that some of my themed shoots and headshots will go away, but not all my clients are going to play with AI themselves and they will still go to me and ask me to do it. By posting work I am doing with AI they know that I can create what they want and there is no need to go anywhere else
Very interesting chat. One possible ramification of A.I. is that expensive new high-end cameras may lose most their market. Currently, when a new high-end camera is in prospect, RUclips is alive with chat and thousands of videos appear talking about it. That may all go away. Many people buy high-end cameras because they perceive that having the latest tech will give them an edge that their skill set can't provide, or (very often) more social cachet with their peers. If readily available and easy-to-use A.I. can do almost anything with any image fed to it, then (for most pros & wealthy amateurs) what will be the point of a new $4000-$6000 camera?
Personally, I like photos that I feel have value. The knowledge of what the photographer had to endure to get the photo. If I were to find out a photo was generated by AI, I don't feel it will hold any value for me. It's like a great dinner. If I know that the host made the food, I will respect that host more than if they served up vegetables that were frozen, and a pre-cooked roasted chicken.
I personally will only ever be interested in art with the subconsciously-conveyed meaning it only has when constructed by sentient beings. In addition, any craft is made more impressive if done more laboriously, closer to "the old fashioned way." Furniture is more impressive when handmade. So are trinkets, drawings, clothing, cakes. Manual film photography will always be more impressive than AI-wielding, etc. Ballet would be lame if people were just using hover-slippers. Even though it would create a new form of dance that could be super dope and would flood social media, there would always be demand for real, OG ballet. But, it's sad that so few people now can look forward to independently making a living off things made "the old fashioned way," thanks to automation like AI. I agree the best way for professional artists to combat it is to focus on work within their community.
AI is going to dominate the mid to-lower tier of much of the commercial market, no question, just as fast food dominates the low end of culinary satisfaction. Specifically product photography, consumer portraits, catalogues and lookbooks. But those are just a few realms of photography, and I doubt artists like Annie Leibovitz are particularly concerned about their careers. At that level, humans will continue to create work in-camera. Scientific and forensic photography will continue to be captured in-camera. People on vacation capturing memories will continue to do so in-camera. Weddings and events of all manner will continue to be captured in-camera. Sports and photojournalism must also happen in-camera. Anything that requires a once-in-a-lifetime fleeting moment happening in real time in the real world will continue to be captured in-camera, because AI imagery remains a past-tense interpretation of present tense moments-for example, it cannot today predict an event that is going to happen five years from now without first scraping actual images of the event in order to spit out a reinterpretation. Which means actual images will need to continue to be captured. And many (if not most) artists will continue to work with a camera, because it's not just about the end result, it's about the process; it's about the journey out in the real world. Which brings me to my last point... In the realm of storytelling, as soon as anyone asks you the backstory behind your image, discussing that creates an added sense of interest and value. If the image was just created in the computer using AI to scrape the web, it will quickly cease to hold much fascination for people, and many will look down upon it as a "cheat"...as nothing but fakery. In fact, we're already seeing that happen as I write this. Anyway, you get the idea.
Aren't all photos fake, or at least a fake representation of reality, whether taken by a human, or generated by AI? Photons hitting the camera with a human behind it, its processors mangle the input bits into a generated image, based on a subset of light, and algorithms ... so, I think there's always going to be people willing to pay more for more or less the same thing, because of a feel-good sense of added quality. Give AI some more years and many areas might well face the same as Chess did in the 90's. Everyone said it'll never happen, no computer can ever beat a human ... once that was proven wrong, computers are so far ahead of us that we just have to smile and wave at them, and appreciate what they can do for us that we can not do ourselves. Could be the same with photos, eventually we might get pictures which are far better than anything a human can create, and we won't even think about it, it's just one of those services that computers do for us ... who knows, time will indeed tell ...
Artworks (2/4) Photos (5/7) - Pretty happy with getting this result. - I failed on the pick the one "real" from 6 options Texts (1/4) Memes (0/2) - Hate memes - they all suck
With respect, while I see that AI generated portraits/headshots are going to be a fad for a bit, I don't think those careers are going away - for some. Partially, there will likely be pushback soon enough to be able to verify that a person's photo is an accurate representation of them - especially for security, government, legality, estates, etc. Partially because, as Chelsea put it, people want to see a real moment when it comes to kids, family, pets, and even (or especially) themselves. So, I think the people who just want a pretty image for the cheapest price are going to flock to it. Same way they flock to the "$99 for all the digitals" weekend warriors. But for those important memories, I don't think one can replace the photographer. Moreso than that, the experience of having that portrait session or headshot session - especially when you provide a higher level of service. There are intangibles that AI can't replace. Will there be a huge shakeup? Yes. Is it going to be scary for a bit? Yes. Will we all have to adapt? HELLS YES. Is this the end for portrait photographers? Not by a longshot. But that's my $0.02. YMMV
i'm doing some real estate photos these days and the PS beta with AI saves me a lot of time when i hide unwanted corners of a neighbors house or when i correct a wide angle lens photo (and i lose a little white seiling while cropping).
I took the test with the knowledge of it being AI vs Human and still detecting real photos seemed impossible even examining them up close, extremely curious to see what's coming... (Artworks (4/4), Photos (3/7), Texts (4/4), Memes (2/2))
I had a very similar result apart from you beat me on the texts. Artworks (4/4) Photos (3/7) Texts (1/4) Memes (2/2). A very difficult test though, that's for sure.
I actually gave up on pro shooting as a result of digital. I had over 30K in film photo equipment (and that is being conservative), as digital got into gear, my budget for it was being outpaced more rapidly than I could even try to save up for it. Sort of like when last year's computer was totally obsolete and unusable. I worked with scanning for a while and still shooting film, but finally I said "screw this", and found another way to make a living. So I don't know what I would do about AI.
I totally agree with what you are both discussing. It' is called the Fourth industrial revolution, and I too find it scary. I hear of Copywriters now being made redundant because AI is now writing copy for articles and advertising, although It's not only restricted to the creative arts. Even as basis as the Supermarket, where checkout tills are now being run by AI.
I didn't do that well on that test either but I wonder if they were large prints of the artworks and photos instead of on a screen would you be able to tell better. I think it would be harder for AI to pull of the fake in a gallery sized print but I could be wrong about that.
I think they are going to have to pass laws about A.I. generated content. It will have to include, at a minimum, a digital tag built into the source, that software can detect and give warning and hard copies will have to be marked so that anyone looking at it will know if it's real or not. If we don't do this then the world will never be sure if any photo, video, or audio is real or not and it could have huge political and legal fallout. I don't doubt it will be used by shady lawyers in attempt to put doubt into the minds of jurors. or politicians slurring the competition with damning evidence. It won't matter if later it's proved to be fake, it will have had its effect.
Really I very much doubt they will insert a digital tag to the AI photo because there are so many other issues that are far more important than photography. And it would be extremely difficult to even distinguish what is the difference between AI and a heavily edited photo. What is the line between real and unreal photo? Not to mention how to enforce the law since the proliferation of AI will accelerate. This is a losing battle and DSLR photography is likely to be reduced to a nerdy, niche hobby.
I'm not sure. Fake and misleading photos have existed for about as long as photography has. But there is a risk that AI will massively increase the volume of fake photos to make it hard to find the real ones. May mean that we have to ignore any photos by anonymous or unknown photographers.
Related to the exact opposite of this (as something an AI could never replicate), I wonder if you'd ever check out an analog instax / poloroid camera like the NONS SL660
What AI can’t do, is to create photos that capture moments people remember or reminisce to, what it can do in fact is to provide guidelines for new photographers or act as a spotter to attract the human’s attention to a shot that would otherwise be lost, settings that could be overlooked, shots that could be illegal, the possibilities are amazing, hopefully the camera manufacturers will make good use of AI
"While AI may excel in numerous domains, the elusive charm of bird photography remains beyond its grasp. It is in the patient observer, with an understanding of avian behavior, who captures the ethereal beauty of birds in flight and their intricate details. The delicate nuances, the fleeting expressions, and the unscripted moments are treasures reserved for the human eye and the click of a dedicated photographer. In the realm of bird photography, the soul of the art lies in the artistry and intuition of the human lens."
I think the hardest hit will be the fashion and product photographers! That toaster or skirt is going to appear in hundreds of ad campaigns in hundreds of settings without ANY compensation to the photographer.
After nearly 10 years in the SDP facebook group I left yesterday. Some overzealous page admin deleted a post of mine because I included a link to the raw file for others to download and edit. No self promotion, no link to my insta... just a link to a raw file in google drive so others could edit a similar image.
The strange times we live in have just gotten even stranger. We all knew that AI was coming, but that was in the future. Well, the future is now. And it's just beginning. Last century photographers were very hands on and making a lot of decisions. Then cameras began making some of the decisions for us. How much more will AI take away from us? And it's not just photography. It will eventually affect every aspect of life. And I see no end to it.
AI is not a threat to me because I shoot for myself. I'am strictly a hobbyist. I make my own prints using an epson 15000 printer. If I was a professional I would try to incorporate the parts of AI that fit my work flow the best and would also allow me to maintain my integrity.
Art 2/4, Photos 3/7, Texts 3/4, Memes 1/2 At first I thought AI was stealing photos. Then I found out it is only stealing parts of photos. That didn’t make me feel better. Right now AI is dumb. (My quiz score shows that I join AI in that category.) I asked a dozen times for a wooden sailing ship with its sails unfurled. AI gave me a Chinese junk with the top cut off. But I fear when AI becomes smart. My storm shelter will be photojournalism.
I think photographers using watermarks would have to add something to it, to show they are real.... This way you will stand out as not a fake. Maybe even give a certificate with photoshoots, that you are the real deal.
The scariest thing of all this is that Maddy is a SENIOR!? I just went from feeling old to ancient. It didn't seem that long ago that I was watching videos of you guys taking pictures of her as a little kid. I'd make a Geritol joke, but only a very few would get the reference. LOL Maybe we can urge the creation of a separate category of AI photographic artists. Where the best, most precise, and most creative wording produces the images in a particular style. I wonder how long an actual photographer could last doing tintypes before AI was doing that too? Painting via AI with painting printers? Tech has always been a two-edged sword.
The world of business, including the photo business, runs on unwritten rules, and the golden unwritten rule of business is a rule that can be reduced to simple arithmetic. Cheaper + Faster + Easier = Better. And C + F + E = Better always wins. Always. You don't have to like it, you just need to understand it. AI will disrupt and, for some, destroy the photo business. Obsolete technologies (e.g. blacksmithing, vinyl albums, etc.) never totally go away. But they do cease to be robust businesses. And so it will be for the photo business.
I'd been saying for decades now that it won't be long before they take old movies with stars like Cary Grant or Myrna Loy, scan them and digitize them into realistic 3D models they can then make new movies with. They've showing up in commercials for a few years.They could have the actors be any age where they were making films or being photographed. Of course they'd have to pay the estate.
Hey! Thanks for making this video. And thank you to everyone in the comments. I am just starting out in photography. I may have been doing it for just over a year now, so I am very new at this, and when I started hearing about AI I almost shrugged it off and kept thinking of genres in photography that "just couldn't" be taken over by it. But seemingly everything has or will be. And I keep thinking that art has to win somehow because it all comes down to what people are more interested in. And it's usually money. So when the novelty of AI calms down and it stops making so much money just because it's new, the nature of art has to balance itself out. Art has to win because humans need an escape, and AI may be able to create a fantasy. But it can't capture the emotion that humans need to escape to. I loved a lot of the tips and helpful comments you gave. It gives me hope as an artist. Not just a photographer. Thank you so much. And if any of you are willing to support my infant-sized career of photography, look at my Instagram @bayleekayephotography because I'm still making my website, and I'm not done with it yet.
As a CG character animator who got my start in the mid 1990s, i had to learn to accept that motion capture (or mocap) was not the end of my career. I was full of fear at first but soon realized that it simply became a tool. Your advice about folding A.I. into your workflow is about as sound as good advice gets. Cheers from Northern California
I've been a commercial retoucher since 1973 and have been witness to these discussions since the mid 80's when the digital revolution became a real threat to my airbrushes and future. Accept AI and add it to your toolkit. Reinvent yourself if you have to. Talent, hard work and personality will never become obsolete.
Some of our backstories aren’t that interesting - I’m just a dude and my dad got me a camera when I was young and I liked it. A lot of us are introverts, a lot of us can’t create a captivating narrative or build our image like you said. Heck chatGPT can create a better story than I can. This is all overwhelming and it feels hopeless
You’re missing the point. Sure, chat GPT can come up with a story, but of course it will necessarily be derivative, contrived and fake. People are interested in people, it’s that simple. Some will go to a mall or park simply to “people watch” complete strangers without knowing *any* backstory about them. I have a hard time believing there’s nothing interesting in your personal story….even what you mentioned about your dad giving you a camera and starting your journey is compelling. Photography is story telling….I’m sure you can translate that into your personal narrative that is uniquely yours, and interesting. Chin up…find your niche, I believe there will be a resurgence of demand for “real” images, even if only by a minority.
There is an old saying, "fake it till you make it". I work in a retail type of business. I have to interact with people a lot even though I am more of a loner type. It is not natural to me to be friendly and smiling but I just forget about myself and try to be helpful to people and it works out fine. A lot of people appreciate me. Also, sit down and do an inventory of your life and your interests. Take time to get to know yourself better and then you'll have some things to work with and ultimately share. You are probably far more interesting than you imagine.
What did you like about the camera? What did you do with that camera? Did you go outside to shoot the world? Or stay in side and shoot your world? There’s a story there, you just don’t think it’s interesting because you lived it already
You don't need to create a narrative just let people know your real narrative. You might thing you narrative is "boring" but it is real and othe people may find it really interesting. ChatGPT can create a story but it cannot tell your story regardless of how "boring" you may think it is better than you can.
You may think your story isn't that interesting, but I'm already wondering why you liked the camera your dad got you. You may think what got you there are just some small, mundane details, but I'm waiting to hear what those details were and I probably haven't even seen one of your photos.
I feel for those trying to make a living at photography. I'm thankful that my photography is for myself, nobody else. I process minimally, only as needed to convey what I felt when I took it. Hoping that AI doesn't cut into your work here. I enjoy your presentations even when they have no application for me.
Many photographers take photos just because they want to get outside, walk wilderness trails, see nature, get exercise, and document their journey. Getting paid to take photos may be a thing of the past like so many other previous occupations, such as you noted horse-riding saddles. Smart phones today are capable of capturing phenomenal images/videos of weddings and other family events. Anyone can do that. As for me, I will continue to capture images with my dedicated camera (a Sony RX10 IV) because of ergonomics/telephoto/megapixels capabilities. When smartphones add telephoto capability, I'll gladly ditch the bulk/weight of my Sony RX10 IV camera, but will always eschew A.I. technology in photography.
Back in 2004, I had a Samsung color mobile phone that had a fantastic collection of photos as wallpapers, one of which was of a bee in a flower that I loved, I used to look at it for the sake of looking at it, tried to recreate it but didn’t manage, so I started looking, we didn’t have internet back then and I did not have any money to go to an internet shop to look things up, so I started looking for books, in French, and there was only one, luckily my uncle was into photography and he borrowed me his film Minolta with a telephoto lens and that’s where I knew It is something I want to do for the rest of my life, after years of practice and learning through payed and free courses, I am the photography geek that I am, soon to be a proud Leica owner and a hobbyist street and environmental portrait photographer.
I was a crime scene photographer when digital first came out. Everyone was worried about it. Digital images were banned from some court rooms as evidence…for a while. Then the whole thing just sort of evaporated. The system adjusted.
Your point about the “photographer” being part of the story and a relatable person, I’m going to predict that won’t hold for long. How long do you think it will be before there will be multiple AI’s with names and personalities that creat images? Some might even watch your RUclips videos!
AI scares the hell out of me for images that could be well faked but used in a criminal or civil case. IMHO i think crime scene photographers need to go back to film because of AI
I remember reading about that in an article about the beginnings of digital when film used to reign.
@@josephwright1986 Yeah, because then they would need to hire an expert to determine if they are authentic or AI generated, or... use AI to do that. This is a can of worms. 😢
@@josephwright1986 Film can be faked too. How do you know the film camera was pointed at a real scene and not at an evenly lit print of a fake digital photo? A photographer is just a witness - the other side can cross-examine them about how they produced the photo, and the court will have to decide whether to believe them or not.
There’s one guy I’ve been following on IG who does amazing portrait/street photography, and I always thought that they were actual photos, as they looked so real and authentic, but when I learned that they were AI, I felt deflated. It just isn’t the same.
This could open the door to photographers that hold a qualification in photography, you would the not just be qualified but qualify the work you offer…. A certificate of authenticity and a seal of approval…. Print print print…. The LASTING memory
In the end I don't care that much about my job, or I do, but there are other jobs out there, What I DO care about is the authenticity and the joy of taking REAL photos of real things in real time!
Great advice, especially for professional photographers or those who want to be. Personally, I'm one of those "others" you referred to -- just happy to take photos and work on them. I do both film and digital depending on the subject/situation. It's about the process for me.
Great insights folks. I would only add, that it’s a good idea to make the photoshoot itself an amazing, fun and unique experience for your clients. Take them to a crazy location or bring in extraordinary talent. Make the shoot itself the goal with the photos being a byproduct of that memorable experience. Make sure people leave your photoshoots exhausted and totally stoked. A.I. cannot conduct an adventurous photoshoot.
This premise sounds good. I just don't think even that will matter to most people. Most people don't want to be exhausted and stoked. They want convenience. That's what A.I. offers perhaps more than anything.
@@johnw.3636 True you will never persuade the people who value convenience and economy over enjoyment, camaraderie and the creative process.
Agreed. You must bring qualities and experiences that would not be possible w/o your touch etc!
@@timskinnercanada I do think photography will survive, but the economy of it will take a massive hit in certain genres, some more than others.
I been taking pictures since I was 12 years old and I love it no matter if ai does take over I'm still doing my photography till I'm too old and can't eny more thanks you guys love listening to you Paul. 😊
This is probably one of the most important videos y'all have ever made.
Thank you.
I do photography as a hobby, but I am an illustrator by trade. Many of my cohorts, if not most of them, are very worried about being replaced by AI. However, I have found myself busier than ever lately. One publisher who often contracts with me asked me my thoughts on AI recently, and it developed into an interesting conversation. He told me that they, as a smaller publisher, can't afford to hire illustrators to do everything they want, so traditionally they simply would print without as many illustrations, or they would hire less experienced illustrators and put out lower quality products. Now they are using a combination of quality illustrators to do the important pieces, such as book covers, and use AI to do less important bits such as page fillers or interior artwork for anthologies and so forth. This allows them to put out better products for less money, increasing their revenue, which permits them to pay for more commissions from illustrators like myself. For my part, I have been using AI to generate thumbnail concepts, to generate loose reference subjects, and play around with composition, color, and lighting to help with the creative process. One thing that AI sucks at currently is composition. There is a tremendous bias for it to make images that are roughly bi-symmetrical. It struggles with the golden ratio, and it doesn't understand how to pose people even when you tell it to use profile, or 3/4 profile, etc. It still wants to make people face the camera head-on. It is making a lot of progress, but there is still a great need for quality illustrators. But like with the advent of Photoshop, or even the advent of photography itself, the technology will be a boon to many and a bane to others. The trick is learning to navigate the changing technology to stay relevant.
Well said!
I own a landscape photography gallery, can’t really see any of my customers wanting AI imagery any time soon, as they’re paying for authenticity and my personal interpretation on a real moment in time. My view is that AI will replace a lot of lower value, mass produced photography where the ‘experience’ of making the image has no value to the end user (stock, real estate, some product etc) but much of that market has little value already anyway (look at stock photography royalties today).
I think there will be plenty of room for imagery where the experience of making it is still valued by the client - I think the AI worry is one for photographers who already don’t see much value in their own work.
I currently live on the central Oregon Coast. A lot of retirees have moved here to pursue their hobbies, one of those being photography. And a lot of tourists come here with the primary intent of taking beautiful photographs. I have sold images but I am so glad that it is not my career or I would be starving. If I want to photograph a seascape or a striking sunset, then I am in competition with a lot of other people. Cameras have gotten so good that it is hard to take a bad picture. Since I don’t sell photo services, I am trying to focus on capturing moments in time that cannot be duplicated, such as a facial expression, animals or street photography. That may mean I pursue photography as a hobby or people will purchase an image if it strikes them right then and you as the artist are there to tell the story. As to landscape images, I won’t be able to compete with AI except that my photo might be in the client’s hands and they don’t have to create one on MidJourney or other sites.
To be honest I really love the denoise and upscaling AI features. I'm more interested in those tools that enhance my photo without altering the contents or style of it. Enhance x8, go print large :)
this is what AI should be used only and not creating fake photo-like images
Fine art photographer here. I’m not too worried about AI. And the perfection is part of why. A big part of what I do is to make images that are not perfect. But also, I’m mindful of art history. Photography was supposed to make painting obsolete. But people still paint. And people still make a living at it. And I think the same is true of AI and photography. Right now, a lot of people want to limit photography to just reproducing whatever they see. Boring and highly limiting. But painting got freed from that by photography and I think photography will be freed from it by AI.
And admittedly I’m told I have quite a good story. Got hurt serving overseas. Underwent multiple surgeries and years of rehab. I was medically retired. Needed a way to reinvent myself. Urged by friends to write a photo book. Told them they were nuts, but decided to post photos on Instagram. Suddenly I got an ambassador role, requests for publication, asked to teach, and I’m in galleries. And who knows what else is coming? So I guess that helps.
Yeah I think this desire for "perfect" images is weird. A lot of the things that would be considered an artist's style or quirks that are unique to their work would be considered imperfection if you were looking purely for a perfection based image. Real and unique should take precedence over perfection when it comes to artmaking.
I can see imperfection becoming desirable to differentiate sensor-captured pics from AI-generated pics. Grain, bokeh, weird lighting, wrong exposure, slightly off saturation and vibrance, things that the AI will have to learn to make their perfect images LESS precise to catch up.
Your comment about senior portraits caught me. I like being just an amateur photographer and only do photos for family and friends. My last month I did photos for my daughter and her friends as they got ready for their senior prom. I didn't set up any backdrop and just used our front yard for the shoot. This was the same time PS dropped the Beta version with AI. So I played with it for fun and it amazed me that given the right shot, I could really manipulate the scene with a realistic scenario. I don't know what to think of this. It was nice to change the scene given I didn't prep the background for the shots, but at the same time I felt it looses some of the real life and story telling. For now I see myself just using AI as a fun tool. I am still of the nature that when I present a photo on social media, in my personal prints, or the photo groups I belong to, it has to be 100% me unless I a tell otherwise.
I took the quiz! Artwork: 3/4, Photos: 5/7, Texts: 2/4, Memes: 1/2. That was harder than I thought it would be!
LoVe you Folks! As Always, Thank You for the Convo!!
I wonder how valuable these top tier cameras and lenses will be in the very near future, what will happen to Canon, Sony, Nikon etc, AI is advancing so fast, they must be worried about their imaging companies, I’ve not invested in anymore high end gear since last year, I’ll just do landscape photography for myself, I know how people love fake things, just look at instagram, that’s how human beings have become.
Exactly! I now have little desire to upgrade my camera gear. No need for more megapixels, as AI, in the future, will be able to easily upscale low quality images far better than what is possible from Topaz and other companies today.
I like how you thought out so many great points...bookmarked for future reference! Part of the appeal of street photography is capturing amazing moments. Not crafting concepts. It allows people to wonder how a great photographer sees the same thing they are seeing, and makes great art out of what passes most people by.
I think this will go like analogue recordings- vinyl came back for a reason, tube amps are still a thing. The human aspect is what photography is, connections with meaning not just generic factory made stuff, people want to feel something, experience something not just waste away on blandness. Also that line "the Pope is cool as hell" 😂
It is the journey, the story, the photographer that can never be replaced. Photography is my passion not my income source so sort of not qualified to chime in…. Thanks for this Tony & Chelsea!
Of course it can...
Great video! Another well researched, thoughtful, and honest take on the future of capturing digital imagery. Thank you both!
I love all of your content and watch until the end every time. You two bring order to the seeming chaos of the ever changing role of photographers and how we might move forward continuing to do what we are passionate about. I have a real suggestion going forward for your videos; I enjoy the cozy, at home atmosphere of your videos and the super high quality lighting, your set creation and the nice pleasing colors. I ask that you please consider altering your graphics sections that are stark white with black lettering to a more 'dark mode' version such as medium grey with white lettering or black lettering. I am often in darkened rooms and these slides with graphics on super bright white give me snow blindness effects. I hope this is constructive and it should not take away from the fantastic work & efforts you put into your video content creation. Have a wonderful week.
It's more of a challenge to get a good pic w/o AI. I think this opens my eyes to a camera instead of the latest galaxy ultra for wildlife. Thank you Tony and Chelsea!
Brilliant! One thing is for sure you guys will still be around, because as you say people invest in people. Almost all the folks who follow and comment and in some cases buy my work know me. They know about my crazy life, I even did a blog thingy entitled A cat has only nine lives. So your right people like to know about these adventures and AI can not make this connection. I would say that we should stop even thinking about AI as any thing to do with photography, it isn't. It's digital art. For me photography is about capturing light via a lens and camera, this is the only way a photo can be produce. Thanks for posting.
3:25 Getting half of them right would have been well above the expected value for randomly guessing the photos because many of them had more than two choices
Oh valid point.
Another great skip through the dark and scary AI woods. I filmed a video about this a few days ago (not published yet), where I hit on most of the issues you’ve mentioned here. Some people’s careers will be ruined, for sure. Some will remain untouched. Those who shoot for pleasure would do well to remember what matters most: the process; the practice, the joy of being in the moment, and capturing something only you experienced in that moment. Viewed this way, the image itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as the experience of creating it.
One thing AI will never change, that's my motivation for photography. It isn't money or a desire to quit my day job, but rather the compulsion I feel daily to take that photo... I agree that making some money back is a welcomed side effect of this compulsion and up till now has helped me bootstrap my studio, but I'd make that investment anyway because of this compulsion.
I am 100% a hobby photographer. When I show my pictures to people they trust me when I tell them that I took that myself. Oddly, people the trust me with all kinds of things. But I'm not trying to get a million likes on Instagram, I just like taking the nice picture of some odd thing that no one else in the world would have noticed, and showing it to people that I like. That's it. That's all I need.
In my country applies, that when you want make incom from photography, you have to be better enterpriser than photohgrapher. You could be underaverage (or even miserable, or near to miserable) photographer wiht biggest incom between photographers, but if you are not good enterpriser, you can be best photographer on the world, and you will be happy if you earn money for bubbles in water. Maybe (just maybe), with arrival AI this will change? 🤷♂
Some industries are safe. AI Photos cannot replace a wedding photographer covering the day, and to my experience Brides don't like fake images on their day. They want real emotional moments captured. Real estate photos might be mostly safe, however staging furniture inside a room photographed, can be added by digital overlay files already being done for some high end homes as a paid option. Event coverage is mostly safe. Lots of other areas in photography can be impacted by AI Photos. Some photographers should add AI tools to their workflow because their creativity cannot really be replaced. Photographers may have to pivot to add graphic design options to their photos and use AI tools some of the time. Photoshop has repair and generative fill which will be used often.
I believe AI will have a impact on wedding photography. Definitely, it's a tradition and the photographer is part of that tradition so it won't eliminate the field, but it will reduce it even further than smartphones already have. Even today many people skip paying a wedding photographer and just put up a hashtag for everyone to share their photos and videos. In the near future, AI will be able to take simple snapshots and make them look like professionally posed and lit wedding photos, and nobody will be able to tell they're not real.
8:24 Agreed, brand will be an important factor in a world where nothing is real. The story behind a work of art has always had more value than the art itself. Unfortunately, most artists want the art to speak for them...but it can't. Historically, artist could never afford to be quiet, introverted, nerds. The more popular they were and the wider their network, the more successful they were. Actual artistic talent isn't really that important because its hard to relate to.
You are ever so right. I always considered my work as progressing towards the future. Here again a crossroad. Let us cross the road and advance once again.
Such mixed feelings about AI - on the one hand it's inevitable, and on the other, wasn't it supposed to replace all the boring jobs and not the one we love to do...? Not worried so much about the creative aspect of it since as you've pointed out, technologies are constantly being replaced by the next thing. I'm not ready to jump on board to create imagery with it, but I have been inspired by it! A friend created a "fashion" series which I realized I could replicate with good ol' fashioned photography. They turned out great, and blow people's minds when I show them my images. But combining the technologies in a composite (with unique or expensive props created in AI) sounds interesting and might be something to explore.
OMG! I always thought senior photos were portraits of grandmas and grandpas!😂
I took the quiz, this is my score. I’m surprised.
Artworks (4/4)
Photos (6/7)
Texts (3/4)
Memes (2/2)
Great clip, but straight after watching it, youtube auto fed me another camera review. That just makes me think AI will mostly be used to exploit the average sucker's spending habits. I think what we should be doing, is exactly what you suggest, and that is putting our own personal stories into the photos or their descriptions. Good thinking guys!
Your results:
Artworks (4/4), Photos (6/7), Texts (2/4), Memes (1/2)
I think it scares me MORE that I can't differentiate text... Memes are inconsequential (to me), but a major avenue of fact-finding is through research, and to think that documents could be easily relayed without human oversight for accuracy scares the living daylights out of me.
The artificial doesn't satisfy like reality can, but many will settle for this. The career Photographer as we know him or her today will disappear into oblivion. Those that remain will continue to enjoy the process of capturing real things and people; connecting with audiences that appreciate the same.
I think once AI becomes mainstream and the dust settles, people will want real photographers and despise AI imagery.
Since AI photos are necessarily derivative and not “original,” the coming crunch for photographers and therefore camera companies will create a self-referential loop, since a growing number of images in the pool to draw information from for new images will themselves be non-originals. AI really needs a healthy and ever expanding pool of originals to draw from to make relevant, unique and up to date images. A good number of people will reject “fake” eventually.
Heeey, I've also thought of that. There needs to be "something" for intelligence to act upon.
What a great video. Thank you! And greetings from Costa Rica 😊
What you all are talking about starting around the 9 minute mark resonates...with me. Thank you
Tony & Chelsea thank you so much for your insight into AI. My thoughts are that AI is going to be dominant only for static photos. You can use AI to enhance a photo. Photographers can still originate or capture the initial photo, therefore still having a job, and use AI to embellish the captured photo. Like Chelsea was saying, there’s nothing like being present to capture the original photo, that’s something AI cannot do.
Can A.I. help us detect A.I.-generated (FAKE) photos then? People seem to be bound to love FAKE for FAME. I wish A.I. had warned us it's going to get worse!
I enjoy doing art walks here and there and showcasing my photography. It’s much more gratifying then just getting likes on Instagram. I don’t sell a crazy amount…but I do feel half of the reason I sell is people enjoy my personality and feel compelled to support my art.
Most of my photography is local since it's the only meaningful engagement I get.
Hi
I currently live in Germany bought Sony a7c last year, very pleased with it, I'm looking now to upgrade to 7rv mainly for 2 card option. And here's the thing... I was looking at the prices and I feel like a crazy person. Why are we using cards like Sony Cf express Tough 512gb 1480 MB/s write speeds for 425 euros when Samsung 980 pro 1 tb NVMe SSD costs 85 euros and has 5000 MB/s write speed ?
We buy whole camera grips for additional battery couldn't camera makers make one for NVMe SSD ?? Wouldn't it be easier to build one in the camera ? Spending almost thousand euros just for memory seams crazy to me.
Saddle makers still make money and it's still a thing except it is now become a niche luxury item vs and everyday item everyone needs. There are people who don't horses who will sometimes buy an artistic hand made saddle to hang on the wall like a piece of artwork even its not used as a functional piece. In the same way I think non AI photography will still be bought as a luxury collectible item. Now you just need to get into that market. As you stated I could see the appeal for film, especially because the option of selling the original negative at a premium is not something AI can replace. AI is not just going to create physical film negative and if you are selling that at a premium price kind of like an original painting vs limited edition prints and reproductions that is a different ball game.
Great episode! Thank you!
I am using AI to make my workflow faster removing dbl chins or add and removing objects. I do think that some of my themed shoots and headshots will go away, but not all my clients are going to play with AI themselves and they will still go to me and ask me to do it. By posting work I am doing with AI they know that I can create what they want and there is no need to go anywhere else
What AI are you using to create these images?
My results on the test:
Artworks (4/4)
Photos (4/7)
Texts (4/4)
Memes (2/2)
It's uncanny how real some AI-generated photos look now.
Very interesting chat. One possible ramification of A.I. is that expensive new high-end cameras may lose most their market. Currently, when a new high-end camera is in prospect, RUclips is alive with chat and thousands of videos appear talking about it. That may all go away. Many people buy high-end cameras because they perceive that having the latest tech will give them an edge that their skill set can't provide, or (very often) more social cachet with their peers. If readily available and easy-to-use A.I. can do almost anything with any image fed to it, then (for most pros & wealthy amateurs) what will be the point of a new $4000-$6000 camera?
Personally, I like photos that I feel have value. The knowledge of what the photographer had to endure to get the photo. If I were to find out a photo was generated by AI, I don't feel it will hold any value for me. It's like a great dinner. If I know that the host made the food, I will respect that host more than if they served up vegetables that were frozen, and a pre-cooked roasted chicken.
I personally will only ever be interested in art with the subconsciously-conveyed meaning it only has when constructed by sentient beings.
In addition, any craft is made more impressive if done more laboriously, closer to "the old fashioned way." Furniture is more impressive when handmade. So are trinkets, drawings, clothing, cakes. Manual film photography will always be more impressive than AI-wielding, etc.
Ballet would be lame if people were just using hover-slippers. Even though it would create a new form of dance that could be super dope and would flood social media, there would always be demand for real, OG ballet.
But, it's sad that so few people now can look forward to independently making a living off things made "the old fashioned way," thanks to automation like AI. I agree the best way for professional artists to combat it is to focus on work within their community.
Maybe removing something from a photo is editing and adding something to a photo is falsifying???
Professional photography is done
AI is going to dominate the mid to-lower tier of much of the commercial market, no question, just as fast food dominates the low end of culinary satisfaction. Specifically product photography, consumer portraits, catalogues and lookbooks. But those are just a few realms of photography, and I doubt artists like Annie Leibovitz are particularly concerned about their careers. At that level, humans will continue to create work in-camera.
Scientific and forensic photography will continue to be captured in-camera. People on vacation capturing memories will continue to do so in-camera. Weddings and events of all manner will continue to be captured in-camera. Sports and photojournalism must also happen in-camera. Anything that requires a once-in-a-lifetime fleeting moment happening in real time in the real world will continue to be captured in-camera, because AI imagery remains a past-tense interpretation of present tense moments-for example, it cannot today predict an event that is going to happen five years from now without first scraping actual images of the event in order to spit out a reinterpretation. Which means actual images will need to continue to be captured.
And many (if not most) artists will continue to work with a camera, because it's not just about the end result, it's about the process; it's about the journey out in the real world. Which brings me to my last point...
In the realm of storytelling, as soon as anyone asks you the backstory behind your image, discussing that creates an added sense of interest and value. If the image was just created in the computer using AI to scrape the web, it will quickly cease to hold much fascination for people, and many will look down upon it as a "cheat"...as nothing but fakery. In fact, we're already seeing that happen as I write this.
Anyway, you get the idea.
Aren't all photos fake, or at least a fake representation of reality, whether taken by a human, or generated by AI? Photons hitting the camera with a human behind it, its processors mangle the input bits into a generated image, based on a subset of light, and algorithms ... so, I think there's always going to be people willing to pay more for more or less the same thing, because of a feel-good sense of added quality. Give AI some more years and many areas might well face the same as Chess did in the 90's. Everyone said it'll never happen, no computer can ever beat a human ... once that was proven wrong, computers are so far ahead of us that we just have to smile and wave at them, and appreciate what they can do for us that we can not do ourselves. Could be the same with photos, eventually we might get pictures which are far better than anything a human can create, and we won't even think about it, it's just one of those services that computers do for us ... who knows, time will indeed tell ...
Artworks (2/4)
Photos (5/7) - Pretty happy with getting this result. - I failed on the pick the one "real" from 6 options
Texts (1/4)
Memes (0/2) - Hate memes - they all suck
With respect, while I see that AI generated portraits/headshots are going to be a fad for a bit, I don't think those careers are going away - for some. Partially, there will likely be pushback soon enough to be able to verify that a person's photo is an accurate representation of them - especially for security, government, legality, estates, etc. Partially because, as Chelsea put it, people want to see a real moment when it comes to kids, family, pets, and even (or especially) themselves. So, I think the people who just want a pretty image for the cheapest price are going to flock to it. Same way they flock to the "$99 for all the digitals" weekend warriors. But for those important memories, I don't think one can replace the photographer. Moreso than that, the experience of having that portrait session or headshot session - especially when you provide a higher level of service. There are intangibles that AI can't replace. Will there be a huge shakeup? Yes. Is it going to be scary for a bit? Yes. Will we all have to adapt? HELLS YES. Is this the end for portrait photographers? Not by a longshot. But that's my $0.02. YMMV
i'm doing some real estate photos these days and the PS beta with AI saves me a lot of time when i hide unwanted corners of a neighbors house or when i correct a wide angle lens photo (and i lose a little white seiling while cropping).
I took the test with the knowledge of it being AI vs Human and still detecting real photos seemed impossible even examining them up close, extremely curious to see what's coming... (Artworks (4/4), Photos (3/7), Texts (4/4), Memes (2/2))
I had a very similar result apart from you beat me on the texts. Artworks (4/4) Photos (3/7) Texts (1/4) Memes (2/2). A very difficult test though, that's for sure.
Great conversation today, thanks you two joining me for my morning coffee. Will admit I used a human to type this.
Dennis's macbook pro.
I took the quiz. I had more trouble with the faces and texts🧑🧔♂Very interesting though!! Artworks (4/4) Photos (4/7) Texts (2/4) Memes (2/2)
I actually gave up on pro shooting as a result of digital. I had over 30K in film photo equipment (and that is being conservative), as digital got into gear, my budget for it was being outpaced more rapidly than I could even try to save up for it. Sort of like when last year's computer was totally obsolete and unusable. I worked with scanning for a while and still shooting film, but finally I said "screw this", and found another way to make a living. So I don't know what I would do about AI.
My question is, using all these programs will you still own the copyright or the program will change it to say they own the copyright?
I totally agree with what you are both discussing. It' is called the Fourth industrial revolution, and I too find it scary. I hear of Copywriters now being made redundant because AI is now writing copy for articles and advertising, although It's not only restricted to the creative arts. Even as basis as the Supermarket, where checkout tills are now being run by AI.
I am choosing to look at it as an opportunity to enhance my creativity & create new and more powerful images.
true ideas and observations, thanks!
those judges must be blind or something.
that photo is a desaster.
I didn't do that well on that test either but I wonder if they were large prints of the artworks and photos instead of on a screen would you be able to tell better. I think it would be harder for AI to pull of the fake in a gallery sized print but I could be wrong about that.
I think they are going to have to pass laws about A.I. generated content. It will have to include, at a minimum, a digital tag built into the source, that software can detect and give warning and hard copies will have to be marked so that anyone looking at it will know if it's real or not. If we don't do this then the world will never be sure if any photo, video, or audio is real or not and it could have huge political and legal fallout. I don't doubt it will be used by shady lawyers in attempt to put doubt into the minds of jurors. or politicians slurring the competition with damning evidence. It won't matter if later it's proved to be fake, it will have had its effect.
Really I very much doubt they will insert a digital tag to the AI photo because there are so many other issues that are far more important than photography. And it would be extremely difficult to even distinguish what is the difference between AI and a heavily edited photo. What is the line between real and unreal photo? Not to mention how to enforce the law since the proliferation of AI will accelerate. This is a losing battle and DSLR photography is likely to be reduced to a nerdy, niche hobby.
No way to enforce it, so not going to waste tax money to enforce this. Just accept it and move on.
I'm not sure. Fake and misleading photos have existed for about as long as photography has. But there is a risk that AI will massively increase the volume of fake photos to make it hard to find the real ones. May mean that we have to ignore any photos by anonymous or unknown photographers.
Related to the exact opposite of this (as something an AI could never replicate), I wonder if you'd ever check out an analog instax / poloroid camera like the NONS SL660
What AI can’t do, is to create photos that capture moments people remember or reminisce to, what it can do in fact is to provide guidelines for new photographers or act as a spotter to attract the human’s attention to a shot that would otherwise be lost, settings that could be overlooked, shots that could be illegal, the possibilities are amazing, hopefully the camera manufacturers will make good use of AI
No one ever confused a car with a horse.
We really need some sort of metadata embedded in the images to prove that a photograph is genuine and not fake
AI could generate it. 😬
"While AI may excel in numerous domains, the elusive charm of bird photography remains beyond its grasp. It is in the patient observer, with an understanding of avian behavior, who captures the ethereal beauty of birds in flight and their intricate details. The delicate nuances, the fleeting expressions, and the unscripted moments are treasures reserved for the human eye and the click of a dedicated photographer. In the realm of bird photography, the soul of the art lies in the artistry and intuition of the human lens."
Poetry in motion....
I think the hardest hit will be the fashion and product photographers!
That toaster or skirt is going to appear in hundreds of ad campaigns in hundreds of settings without ANY compensation to the photographer.
After nearly 10 years in the SDP facebook group I left yesterday. Some overzealous page admin deleted a post of mine because I included a link to the raw file for others to download and edit. No self promotion, no link to my insta... just a link to a raw file in google drive so others could edit a similar image.
The strange times we live in have just gotten even stranger. We all knew that AI was coming, but that was in the future. Well, the future is now. And it's just beginning. Last century photographers were very hands on and making a lot of decisions. Then cameras began making some of the decisions for us. How much more will AI take away from us? And it's not just photography. It will eventually affect every aspect of life. And I see no end to it.
AI is not a threat to me because I shoot for myself. I'am strictly a hobbyist. I make my own prints using an epson 15000 printer. If I was a professional I would try to incorporate the parts of AI that fit my work flow the best and would also allow me to maintain my integrity.
Art 2/4, Photos 3/7, Texts 3/4, Memes 1/2
At first I thought AI was stealing photos. Then I found out it is only stealing parts of photos. That didn’t make me feel better. Right now AI is dumb. (My quiz score shows that I join AI in that category.) I asked a dozen times for a wooden sailing ship with its sails unfurled. AI gave me a Chinese junk with the top cut off. But I fear when AI becomes smart. My storm shelter will be photojournalism.
Absolutely photojournalism and news/sport will win through
When you use such low res images, of course it's going to be difficult to tell on that quiz.
I think photographers using watermarks would have to add something to it, to show they are real.... This way you will stand out as not a fake. Maybe even give a certificate with photoshoots, that you are the real deal.
What do you think of the AI program, Photo Works ?
The scariest thing of all this is that Maddy is a SENIOR!? I just went from feeling old to ancient. It didn't seem that long ago that I was watching videos of you guys taking pictures of her as a little kid. I'd make a Geritol joke, but only a very few would get the reference. LOL
Maybe we can urge the creation of a separate category of AI photographic artists. Where the best, most precise, and most creative wording produces the images in a particular style. I wonder how long an actual photographer could last doing tintypes before AI was doing that too? Painting via AI with painting printers? Tech has always been a two-edged sword.
The world of business, including the photo business, runs on unwritten rules, and the golden unwritten rule of business is a rule that can be reduced to simple arithmetic. Cheaper + Faster + Easier = Better. And C + F + E = Better always wins. Always. You don't have to like it, you just need to understand it. AI will disrupt and, for some, destroy the photo business. Obsolete technologies (e.g. blacksmithing, vinyl albums, etc.) never totally go away. But they do cease to be robust businesses. And so it will be for the photo business.
Sickening....and our tv is OFF too. Miss your FB pages (Stunning photography group). Apparently, honest folks are to be censored.
Terimakasih berbai ilmu bermanfaat dan menarik untuk diterapkan
AI-generated pictures are going to be what convenience food is in the gastronomy.
I've already decided not to upgrade my equipment because of ai. Why bother.
I'd been saying for decades now that it won't be long before they take old movies with stars like Cary Grant or Myrna Loy, scan them and digitize them into realistic 3D models they can then make new movies with. They've showing up in commercials for a few years.They could have the actors be any age where they were making films or being photographed. Of course they'd have to pay the estate.
When EVERY picture can have an amazing AI generated sunset (sky replacement) in it... an real capture of a gorgeous sunset is worthless.
Hey! Thanks for making this video. And thank you to everyone in the comments. I am just starting out in photography. I may have been doing it for just over a year now, so I am very new at this, and when I started hearing about AI I almost shrugged it off and kept thinking of genres in photography that "just couldn't" be taken over by it. But seemingly everything has or will be. And I keep thinking that art has to win somehow because it all comes down to what people are more interested in. And it's usually money. So when the novelty of AI calms down and it stops making so much money just because it's new, the nature of art has to balance itself out. Art has to win because humans need an escape, and AI may be able to create a fantasy. But it can't capture the emotion that humans need to escape to. I loved a lot of the tips and helpful comments you gave. It gives me hope as an artist. Not just a photographer. Thank you so much. And if any of you are willing to support my infant-sized career of photography, look at my Instagram @bayleekayephotography because I'm still making my website, and I'm not done with it yet.