The Year was 2022, a simpler time, and then the Dawn A.I app hit the Play Store, and for over a week, I couldn’t scroll for two minutes through social media without someone posting some re-imagined image of them, and it was fun for a while, but then the same conversation came up; A.I is coming for our jobs, and this time it was the graphic art community.
There’s a host of applications currently in the market that allow everyday users to create graphic-intensive work without needing to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or Corel Draw (Do people still use Corel Draw?) and all of the other graphic-oriented applications but the catch behind this is that the Artificial Intelligence behind these applications scours the internet and uses the artworks of other artists to composite what we now call “free art” and there’s been a huge backlash as these artists “rightfully” think these bots will take over their jobs.
In Photography, we’re beginning to see the trend of introducing A.I with applications like Luminar A.I making the art of editing and even compositing super easy. An introduction to the actual field of ‘professional’ photography came with the Sony A7R V having a dedicated A.I chip in it (which until now was limited to mobile photography) and whilst that chip seems to be dedicated only to auto focus and white balance functions, the fact that the trend has started simply means more and more tasks will be added down the future.
To answer the question, will A.I replace photographers in the nearest future? No. That possibility is still a long way ahead because until these bots become sentient and can compute their own thought and, as such, be creative, the human element will always be crucial. As things move on, we’d notice that A.I would simply ease daily hassles and make certain processes easier, the way asset sites like Storyblocks and Epidemic Sounds make getting video and audio assets easier.
My Take; A.I systems will never replace the human elements needed to create art. It will only help increase the pace with which the works are produced.
