DISCLAIMER ALERT

There’s a new big bad elephant in the room. It has struck the lexicon of today’s society, and its name is AI. Whether it’s Mid Journey or Photoshop or any other AI out there, it is as we call the Boogeyman But I also bring to you this: perhaps AI was out a long time before we actually claimed it as artificial intelligence. After all, what would Star Wars be without CGI (which is the earlier version of AI) Now I know some people are saying well it requires a person being in front of a computer with a certain amount of skills to pull off the CGI. But isn’t that what we’re doing With generated AI? Are we not sitting in front of a computer with an easier task of just basically being able to prompt the computer in order for the computer to give us exactly what we want? As a photographer, I also am a little bit skeptical about generated AI being let out the box in the way it has without us having this conversation. And to be perfectly honest,

I believe it’s a little too late to have this conversation as it is but we still need to have it Photographers throughout the generations have had this conversation before if you think about it. Think about the photographers who were only shooting film, and a digital camera comes around They had to master their craft for years to the point where nobody can do exactly what they can with a camera. And here comes a camera where not only do you not have to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars a year in photo equipment and chemicals as well as paper. But here comes a camera that can shoot an endless supply of photos where you can even see what the photo looks like on the back of the camera

This was called a game changer. A lot of photographers were not happy about it, but then they had to learn how to use it to their advantage. The same thing happened when Photoshop first hit the scene A lot of photographers who were using darkrooms were not happy with this The ability to change and manipulate a photo the way you want it or suit the desires of what your client is looking for This was too scary for certain people But the industry moved on We learned how to have the elephant in the room work for us Is this the same for generated AI?

PROS for photographer

Levels the playing field against the big boys, and the professionals in the industry. Creates a more polished and professional look on your photos when done correctly. AI helps you become more creative where you couldn’t afford it

CONS

Can create a whole entire fashion editorial without ever using a camera or a model. Can take away jobs from real photographers Never knowing what is real and what is not in a photo

This is a highly controversial subject. At this moment, however ,there is a way of dealing with it. We need to hold a discussion in the industry on what is Photoshop generated AI or Mid Journey and what is not with a disclaimer asterix at the bottom of a photo, or maybe even in the article As it was stated, if done right, you can open up a whole new door for any photographer to showcase their creativity, as well as their photo skills and what they’re

Doing

PROS for models

Just like the photographer, the model can benefit from generated AI by making a low budget photo shoot look like they spent thousands of dollars on that particular shoot If done well, it can enhance the clothes, background, or even the props that are in those particular photos.

Cons

Like most touchups, it takes away from who the model really is. It can cause the person in the photo to feel a sense of low self-esteem due to the fact that the touchup artist has hit on a lot of the model’s insecurities, in order to make the “perfect photo”

The thought that in society today that people are not secure in their looks and here comes a photographer, or a touchup artist in the interest of trying to submit the best work, tearing down the selfesteem of any model in the photo due to the fact that they see imperfections in that person. The feeling of never being able to live up to the image within that photo is a depressing thought Last but not least, if the whole entire photo for a whole entire photo shoot was created on anything like Mid Journey, or Photoshop generated AI, and were submitted into magazines without the magazine’s knowledge of it could cost photographers their jobs

Think about it this way If you were a magazine and you were paying thousands of dollars to photographers to do a photo shoot, wouldn’t it be easier if you just sat down in front of your computer, thought of the theme and created 5 to six photos in a fashion editorial? Same thing works with the photographer and the model Now hearing all the pros and cons that are going on In this discussion as a photographer, my conclusion to this matter is that generated AI, especially the one in Photoshop should be used like the movies use CGI A special effects tactic It’s great, especially for the small guy or the person just starting out in this business who wants status and attention given to him just as much as the professional in this business. I also came to the conclusion that just like CGI in a film, the whole film should not be AI generated.

Or in this case the whole photo should not be generated by AI I’m perfectly OK with the idea of a photo having up to 40% of Photoshop AI in it, or even better if the subject itself was just what AI art can do then that’s perfectly OK to have it at 100%. But when you’re lying and saying that there is none, that's when there’s an issue. That’s where there’s a fear. Of course, this is my own conclusion and beliefs, I invite you to have the same discussion