Will AI Change Photography?

I've been interested in photography since 1965 when I got my first used 35 mm camera. During the past sixty years I have seen the advent of auto focus, the migration to digital formats, and the proliferation of software and hardware to make photography easier for novices and professionals alike. I am amused more than threatened by the rise of artificial intelligence in the field of photography.

Innovation and technology have worked together to change other industries. The monks who used to work for years to reproduce books were replaced by Gutenberg's printing press that made reading (and therefore literacy) more accessible to all people. The horse was eventually replaced by the automobile as the main mode of transportation - though a brisk walk is still better for your health :). Artificial intelligence, or "AI" is just such a transformation in my opinion.

I recognize that AI tools will make the creation of content much more accessible to non-photographers. Computer programs transformed the world of art in ways that couldn't have been imagined when I was a child. Every time you see a Pixar animated cartoon, or a spaceship with realistic alien creatures in a film, or human actors re-imagined as creatures like in the movie "Avatar", you are experiencing artificial intelligence. This technology enhances our ability to create more content more quickly, and changed the way we experience media. What it didn't do was replace the originality of the story itself.

In the world of photography there will still be a place for professionals who are more creative, more facile with the technology tools, and who provide the kind of individualized services that set them apart from the "do it yourself" photographers. Just because someone can take convincing AI headshots on their phone doesn't mean that that they will be able to wear the right clothing or strike a pose that exudes confidence. Your kids can draw a picture that you are proud to hang on the refrigerator, but I am not afraid of a day when you replace your family photos or artwork on your walls with computer-generated fantasy images. Photographers who embrace AI just like you would any other technology or toolset will be better than those who fear it. And, there will still be place for them.