Although I’ve briefly talked about AI in a previous post I think it’s time the subject was spoken about again but in a little more detail. Why? AI development is moving so fast that in just a couple of months things have changed quite dramatically, such that I believe we should take another look.
I want to get one thing out of the way first. This is not about tabloid media making claims that ‘AI will take over the world’ or misquoting leading innovators when they speak of technological progress moving so fast that our role as humans will take a ‘back seat’. I want to talk about AI playing a part in the photography of the average Joe.
It seems to me that AI is, simply put, just another tool in our workbox, albeit a very advanced tool. So what do I mean?
AI is not a new idea. Its functionality has been around for years…we just called it something else. Let me give an example: Photoshop introduced many years ago a function into its software whereby the photographer could simply move or delete part of an image such that the viewer was none the wiser. It was called (and still is) ‘Content Aware Move/Fill’. This was a game changer because once the object to be moved had been selected the software would read the pixel-data surrounding it and fill-in the space left behind when the object was moved. This is a very simplified explanation but the point is made. No longer did we need to mask things and fiddle around with layers or use the clone tools: As if by magic, with a couple of very simple operations, we could move or make objects disappear at will.
But, like all things in life, it was/is good but it didn’t/doesn’t get it exact… and if you are visited by the pixel police then you’re more than likely to get carried off in pixel-cuffs and left feeling like a guilty image-processing-villain😓. My point is, AI is nothing new…it’s just changed its name and become extremely sophisticated using vast amounts of cutting-edge data sets, computational power, image libraries and frontier functionality. I don’t believe for one moment that it’s scary…the first mobile phone I owned was ultra basic at the time, but compared to land-lines it was ground-breaking. Now we all have smart phones which are developing and improving at a rate of knots undreamed of. But we’re all comfortable with that, especially when we’ve familiarised ourselves ourselves with the latest in-phone apps etc. And most of us own cameras that have algorithms built-in that do amazing things for us and we don’t bat an eyelid.
Going back to Photoshop…things have moved on to fully embrace AI in the latest beta version. And without going into all the geeky stuff the ability to delete parts of an image (if you have something that doesn’t need to be there and would improve the image if it were removed) then you no longer need to use things like Patch Tool, Clone or Content Aware Remove which can be inexact with larger areas. With AI Generative Fill you can achieve a result so good that the pixel-police would be hard pressed to find anything untoward. Why? Simply put the AI reads the whole of the image and assesses best possible outcomes for the desired result. To be frank, it achieves things that could only be dreamed of a few years ago and it makes the photographer’s job a lot easier. In addition, Photoshop Generative Fill AI will also add things to an image if needed simply by telling the software what you want. You are offered a choice of multiple results to choose from to achieve your desired outcome. However, like ChatGPT. you have to be precise in explaining what you want. The old saying is as true today as it was in the early days of computing: GIGO…’Garbage in, Garbage Out’.
So it’s not at all scary and it’s not going to take over the world. Give it a go and with practice I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised. And no, this is not about fake images, this is just another tool in our armoury. Used wisely and carefully (like all new software) you may find that it will lift your images to another level.
Please don’t reject it out of hand based on tabloid journalistic nonsense. Afterall, you may already be using AI software to reduce image noise e.g. Topaz Denoise.
Be brave, embrace new things and you may surprise yourself. BUT, remember, you still need to be a photographer first – some things never change.
Happy snappin’ folks
Meter The Light 