ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Will Artificial Intelligence Affect Your Photography?

Imagine the San Diego Zoo turning into an assemblage of animatronic creatures where detection of reality becomes impossible. Even the smells are real. You are reassured that you can walk among them and enjoy them as much or more than the real thing without the risks humans might normally experience with their hand in the literal lion’s den. No fences, no cages, no moats. Then think one step further to Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual Metaverse where you can even walk right through those same animals…or click your fingers to choose to view their insides or intercept brainwaves to find out if they hunger for you. While the extinct tasmanian tiger creation shown above is a two dimensional creation through artificial intelligence (AI), it does not take too big a jump in thought to think even more is possible in the future.

Does this appeal to you? We don’t accept change easily, but when change comes we seem to adapt to it, then embrace it. Do you think we will embrace the World of Artificiality as much as we have the Internet? Will there be laws that apply to that new world?

Artists, including photographers, are among those who would hope that the capabilities of artificial intelligence fall short of, or at least outside of, what they can be done with pen, brush or lens. Recently an AI company from Australia entered a photography contest under an alias with a totally AI created photograph facsimile …and won! Their creation is shown below. Of course, they returned the prize money as their only intent was to show the capabilities of AI.

Because the resulting images are of non-existent and artificial subjects, they may resemble something or some place you have seen before, but you will also recognize that they aren’t that subject or place. You would know that the picture is of a deep canyon like the Grand Canyon, but if you have been to the Grand Canyon you would know that it is even more fantastic than anything you have seen. If the subject is less identifiable, say a closeup of a flower or an abstract of shapely rocks, you might enjoy the AI image as if it were the real thing just as much as a similar image created by an artist. Images often resemble what we have seen as airbrushed images in the past. Think of the Breck Girl!

One issue that comes up is for the viewer or buyer of art. Will the developer of the art be honest about how it was made? Or will the wool be pulled over your eyes? Photographers have faced the same ethical situation when they develop composite images, especially when parts of the images come from different locations. Does the buyer get informed? Most of us believe that the buyer deserves to know the photographer’s process. Painters have less responsibility in this regard, because it is presumed that they have an artistic license to put ideas from their minds on the canvas.

And who exactly is the author of the work? Is it the computer, the person who inputs data into the computer or the person who inputs conditions into the computer? None of these are similar to authorship as we know it, so copyrights may not even be possible on these works. There are many questions and legal issues to be worked out. As of now, it appears to be legal to place this AI generated image (below) on this website, attribution is recommended as I have done.

What about voice AI? Could a commercial be made with a blend of AI voices similar to Brad Pitt's and Morgan Freeman's. If it is a blend made just of numerical audio code, do those actor have any rights to their voices when used commercially? We are going to see some legal battles here as well.

So how does AI work and what are the capabilities? AI learns from the input of thousands of images and word descriptors, then responds to commands of the programmer. For example the programmer may request the computer produce an ocean bay with an island and a sail boat surrounded by pine trees. The results that come out are beautiful if somewhat artificial looking. If you have seen either of the Avatar movies, you will get the idea.

Could the surrealistic paintings like Rene Magritte’s or photographic assimilations like Ben Goosens' be concocted by a computer? Perhaps one could could ask the computer for a result for metaphorical painting that involves a pear and a feather and something fairly appealing could be generated. But the likelihood of getting into the computer’s mindset is much less likely than you would by getting into the mindset of one of the aforementioned artists by viewing a collection of their work. Thus, it is unlikely to have the same connection to us.

To see that there is real potential for AI art, one only has to view the rapid success of Jonas Peterson with his series titled “Youth is Wasted on the Young”. He has produced ten limited edition prints of 10 separate AI concoctions, each selling for about $1500. One of those is shown below. The series sold out quickly for a total of about $150K! I believe early adapters such as Peterson will be equivalent to the Pop Art successes of the 1950’s, especially when they blend their own photography in with the capabilities of AI. If I use AI, this is where I will do so by blending it with my own images.

Of interest, Midjourney AI, the software Peterson used, is one of a several companies who are being aggressively sued by a group of artists whose art may have been extracted pixel by pixel by the computer generators. AI companies argue that they are just taking individual pixels and rearranging them, not taking the image itself. But they would not be able to do this without the original organized aggregation of pixels created by the artist. And in truth, they are taking large chunks of pixels and modifying them.

If all goes well for the AI companies, there are likely to be some other big success stories for AI prints. Inexpensive wall posters and “apartment” prints (like what I bought for my college dorm room) come to mind. Computer desktop screensavers are already very AI looking. We can expect to see more options. Advertising is another place we will see more and more of these prints…after all, they are very attention getting. That is very different from an artwork that you will return to over and over. Most of what was done by the pre-mentioned airbrush artists is already done with computer programs. Since similar products are already available in these areas, I do not see a big effect on the painter or photographer. Instead, there are likely to be a couple more booths at your local art fair showing off this new art. If sweatshop replications of the work of master painters appeal to you, then these works may appeal to you as well.

I am not particularly concerned about AI as a threat to my artistic endeavors as a photographer. Last month I wrote about why we paint or photograph…it is more about connection to other people and our surroundings than about putting something on people’s walls. If my images don’t sell, but I am enjoying creating them, that works for me. For artists who make their living from their art, it might pose more of a threat. But those artists should also be comfortable knowing that most art buyers select art because of their own connection to the art and maybe the artist. It’s hard to get that connected to HAL 9000 unless A Space Odyssey was your favorite movie. Most buyers prefer real places they have been or would like to visit. They buy images that move them emotionally. Sure, they may look for colors that fit a color scheme, but natural colors and looks are more appealing for when you don’t live in a cartoon world.

While we are waiting for all this to play out, I think I will sign up for a Midjourney subscription so I have something to do on cold winter days when I am tired of culling through all my old images to find some potential re-edits. This may be a chance to bring a couple creative ideas to fruition.

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Will Artificial Intelligence Affect Your Photography?

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