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.
