AI thoughts

[Jaime100]

Lately….well….a few months…..I have been seeing an increasing number of AI images crop up on various spots, including ‘in-house’ local clubs etc. This is depressing. Let’s not confuse things here; AI isn’t photography but it is a form of visual representation. But AI is making it’s way into the mainstream and many will equate to an actual photograph. Or for that matter…..AI is becoming Video and AI is becoming paintings and any form of visual representation.

While technology itself isn’t depressing, for me…..what disturbs me is that the populace thinks of AI as a true photograph. They look at an AI painting and feel it is true human hands that made it. They look at a video or movie and feel that the person on the screen is a real person and that an actual human director is directing. This is depressing.

When will AI be coupled with 3D and begin to produce AI created sculptures? When will AI be able to create ‘any’ artistic arm? Soon…..all too soon. And the vast populace who barely hang on with mental acuity as it is will accept this technology as that created by human endeavors and hands and eyes. This is sad.

This almost makes me stop with my photography and take a break. Will AI make me leave photography all-told? It might….. It might also make the painter quit painting and those who work with clay or bronze or just about any medium. AI hits at something that is intangible as it strikes away at what makes us human. Inside….really inside of me, I know I created this photograph. It should just stop there and as the artist, I should be content with my work as I created it. And I am….. but increasingly as other forces come into existence, what those do and what the populace views them as, will chip away at who I am as an artist. That is sad. That is depressing.

For now…..I continue. I load up my film and off I am. But I do notice I am not as avid in my pursuit. I leave you with two from yesterday, shot on my Olympus OM2sp plus 400 Fomapan.

--
jim lehmann https://jimlehmann.squarespace.com

 

[grsnovi]

...but I don't understand why your thoughts "fit" into the Film Photography forum rather than in one of the many AI threads in Open Talk.

This post from yesterday in a thread about AI.

AI generated images are becoming virtually indistinguishable from photographs and represent the current reality in images (and video). They represent a quick way for marketing types to present ideas.

With the demise of magazines and newspapers (books can't be far behind) where (other than sites like this) does the provenance of photographs make a difference?

 

[Jaime100]

...but I don't understand why your thoughts "fit" into the Film Photography forum rather than in one of the many AI threads in Open Talk.

This post from yesterday in a thread about AI.

AI generated images are becoming virtually indistinguishable from photographs and represent the current reality in images (and video). They represent a quick way for marketing types to present ideas.

With the demise of magazines and newspapers (books can't be far behind) where (other than sites like this) does the provenance of photographs make a difference?

I shoot film......so this looks like a good spot if any to post this-)

The point is that we are seeing a dying 'human created art' medium and replacing it with something that might/might not be envisioned by a human brain but not really created by human hands.

Although photography has had some element of AI in place since the infancy of photo software, current AI has taken it up quite a few notches as to where the human side of it is missing in the creation.

I can hang a picture, frame a painting.....put up a sculpture etc....all created solely by human hands and human mind, or I can have it done solely by computer/AI or 3D. If the latter suits one's fancy....go ahead........ If it doesn't then this posting might resonate more.

--
jim lehmann https://jimlehmann.squarespace.com

 

[Overrank]

For now…..I continue. I load up my film and off I am. But I do notice I am not as avid in my pursuit. I leave you with two from yesterday, shot on my Olympus OM2sp plus 400 Fomapan.

I’ll skip the “AI” but I do like this photo - looked at close up the subject is out of focus (the face, in particular, is almost featureless at 100%), but that, to me, gives it a feel of an onlooker - an outsider in the frame - almost as if it’s part of a bigger photograph to the sharply in focus left hand side.

 

[FrancoD]

"With the demise of magazines and newspapers (books can't be far behind)"

for one I regularly read Time, New Scientist, Popular Mechanics, Choice (a consumer goods magazine) and national Geographics (plus some others at times...) all courtesy of the local library , as well as a book every 2-3 weeks.

loke others I like to read in bed holding tem, reading from a tablet is not what I like to do.

 

[Gesture]

Important topic. I noted even some "fine art" oil painters conjure up AI images to use to paint from instead of sketching and painting from real life. I think there will still be some who cherish using one's hands, eyes, mind.

 

[grsnovi]

for one I regularly read...

I actually still get a couple of print magazines. I also don't like to read long articles online or on a tablet.

I usually have 4 or 5 library books checked out and several on hold.

I'm just not freaking out that AI imaging is going to change >my< world. It will certainly change >the< world and likely has already.

 

[grsnovi]

I think there will still be some who cherish using one's hands, eyes, mind.

Absolutely!

 

[FrancoD]

for one I regularly read...

I actually still get a couple of print magazines. I also don't like to read long articles online or on a tablet.

I usually have 4 or 5 library books checked out and several on hold.

I'm just not freaking out that AI imaging is going to change >my< world. It will certainly change >the< world and likely has already.

maybe not images for you ( but many are already falling victim of scams because of fake images...) but you could end up having a phone message from a relative in trouble or something like that only to find out later on it was AI using the real voice of someone you know. After that there will be video messages doing the same thing...

 

[cathal gantly]

This almost makes me stop with my photography and take a break. Will AI make me leave photography all-told? It might….. It might also make the painter quit painting and those who work with clay or bronze or just about any medium.

Interesting point, but actually had the reverse effect on me. The rise of AI, computational photography, and digital cameras with huge amounts of processing power taking control... took me back to my roots, film photography.

Increasing levels of automation for example have to a large degree removed a lot of the skill and more of the pleasure from photography. Using a manual, mechanical camera with black and white film, which I can process myself is rewarding, and the end results especially satisfying, as I'm looking at the fruits of my endeavors, my decisions, rather than automated output.

Digital still has a very large role in my photography. It's just that now, film is taking up residence again after an almost 25 year hiatus.

I think tangible, hand crafted products, be it photographs, paintings, sculpture or whatever, made with the human hand, will always have value to the more conscious, discerning audience.

 

[Jaime100]

"With the demise of magazines and newspapers (books can't be far behind)"

for one I regularly read Time, New Scientist, Popular Mechanics, Choice (a consumer goods magazine) and national Geographics (plus some others at times...) all courtesy of the local library , as well as a book every 2-3 weeks.

loke others I like to read in bed holding tem, reading from a tablet is not what I like to do.

I was just reading the Atlantic magazine has re-upped their volumes per year from 10 to monthly (12) now since the demand for the magazine was so high. I imagine we will see other magazines do like-wise.

Also...with the amount of fake news/opinion stations out there ....I can see where people will eventually turn back to a local newspaper for reliable news.

Also....the three local used books stores in town are busier than ever from what they tell me. So no.....I do not see the demise of print but as 'a side dish to think about'....what will be the demand for AI printed fiction books, non-fiction material etc? Not sure....

--
jim lehmann https://jimlehmann.squarespace.com

 

[Jaime100]

For now…..I continue. I load up my film and off I am. But I do notice I am not as avid in my pursuit. I leave you with two from yesterday, shot on my Olympus OM2sp plus 400 Fomapan.

I’ll skip the “AI” but I do like this photo - looked at close up the subject is out of focus (the face, in particular, is almost featureless at 100%), but that, to me, gives it a feel of an onlooker - an outsider in the frame - almost as if it’s part of a bigger photograph to the sharply in focus left hand side.

thanks,.....I try to make it so faces are not sharp...while this person might be able to recognize himself if I showed it to him....I try to make my images a bit vague in sharpness where I can. Now the second shot of the lady, well....it is 'her'..... no doubt! thanks.

--
jim lehmann https://jimlehmann.squarespace.com

 

[Jaime100]

think there will still be some who cherish using one's hands, eyes, mind.

This will always be true..... the pure artists....the pure people who do photography for the love of it and is a hobby etc..... they want remain 'true' to themselves.

it is the vast majority of naive onlookers, gazers, folks who don't know enough about painting or photography etc who casually look at something and say 'wow, that is great'....that won't be able to distinguish an AI from one done by human hands, nor will they care.

 

[Jaime100]

This almost makes me stop with my photography and take a break. Will AI make me leave photography all-told? It might….. It might also make the painter quit painting and those who work with clay or bronze or just about any medium.

Interesting point, but actually had the reverse effect on me. The rise of AI, computational photography, and digital cameras with huge amounts of processing power taking control... took me back to my roots, film photography.

Increasing levels of automation for example have to a large degree removed a lot of the skill and more of the pleasure from photography. Using a manual, mechanical camera with black and white film, which I can process myself is rewarding, and the end results especially satisfying, as I'm looking at the fruits of my endeavors, my decisions, rather than automated output.

Digital still has a very large role in my photography. It's just that now, film is taking up residence again after an almost 25 year hiatus.

I think tangible, hand crafted products, be it photographs, paintings, sculpture or whatever, made with the human hand, will always have value to the more conscious, discerning audience.

Agreed.....those who 'make and create'....and also gleam satisfaction from doing that, will always return to old camera or paint by hands and human eye etc..... or sculpt. etc.

It will be the huge masses of people out there who become easily swayed and will not know the difference. They will look at AI created 'whatever' and tell themselves how great it is. They won't have the mental capacity to really think, as many don't....and attempt to see thru AI for what it is; merely a representation of an image and not a true photograph.