AI in photography

As digital cameras and photography became the successor to analogue technology, I immediately saw the advantages in terms of how I could progress as a photographer, being able to see my image in an instant and recompose and alter settings there and then was always going to be a winner over waiting two weeks to find many of my images were over exposed or just plain rubbish.

With the computer screen and editing software replacing the dark room, many of the film purists began suggesting that this was not photography, and more manipulation of pixels.

My argument then, was that dodging and burning techniques in the dark room was a tool available to the adept developer, much in the same way that editing software is the tool available to the digital photographer.

Digital photography and cameras have come a long way in a relatively short time, with cameras pretty much able to make every decision for the photographer should they want it, ‘computational photography’ has become common parlance within camera sales pitches and photographic forums.

I am beginning to feel that perhaps I am like the film photographer lamenting the loss of the art of photography to the digital age, maybe because for me photography is the process of creating an image by working a scene by eye and dialling in the appropriate settings is something I enjoy.

For me, the above is perhaps irrelevant, given that I shoot 99% of the time with older digital cameras, but the evolution of AI within editing is where I feel uncomfortable with the way images can be changed beyond recognition.

The latest buzzword seems to be ‘generative fill’ where a scene can be altered by adding elements that were never there.
Of course I can see this being very useful in graphic design but as a photographer, the whole point of going to a particular spot is to capture what is there, instead of adding elements later?

As an amateur photographer, I can pretty much let my concerns pass by but I can see a threat to the livelihoods of those dedicated professionals who have to compete with digital artists sat at a large screen and powerful computer.

What are your thoughts on the AI debate, perhaps I am a Luddite not wanting to be dragged kicking and screaming into the modern photographic world.