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LETTER OF THE WEEK WINS A SAMSUNG 128GB EVO PLUS MICROSDXC CARD WITH SD ADAPTER. NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY
LETTER OF THE WEEK
The upside of AI
In respect to the letter AI Concerns (AP 18 April 2023). After trying some of the AI tools, I too suffered an existential crisis about the future of photography.
However, soon after, I was fortunate to be able to go to a local exhibition of art photography. After visiting many of the shows and chatting with some of the exhibitors, I was able to put my feelings into context.
Photography is about creating images that expand our understanding of how people see and react to the world. Despite its name, there is nothing intelligent about AI. It just mixes and reflects back to us what someone else has already provided it. At its worst, it is laughably poor; at best, it is just a derivative.
On its own, it will never be able to innovate or push boundaries because it is just an algorithm with
Win!
The Samsung EVO Plus is reliably quick, offering superfast U3, Class 10 rated transfer speeds of up to 130MB/s, 6x Multi Proof protection and a limited 10-year warranty. Visit www.samsung.com/uk/memory-storage-devices/ no shared human experience. There could also be a hidden upside to the rise of AI. We were recently shown the best photos in our annual club’s affiliate competition. As I watched them, it struck me that I have been seeing the same images for the past ten years. The rise of digital photography and the ease of photo-manipulation tools has meant that photography as an art form has largely stagnated in that period.
Now that those same images can be produced by a carefully curated phrase, hopefully it will provide the impetus for photographers to break the shackles of the mundane and instead reward and encourage experimentation and reflection. In doing so, the boundaries of photography can again be pushed in the ways only a human can do.
Do not fear AI
I thought that Benjamin Holmwood’s letter about AI concerns (18 April) was timely in raising some of the issues around this emerging technology (it has been around for over 40 years or more). Rather than be afraid of the implications for photography, I would say confront this development full on. Understand what AI in its different forms is. Use and evaluate AI-based applications that can support and help you to improve your photography. (I have been using one tool for some time now to work on the resolution of images.) And continually challenge AI use through cooperation and collaboration with fellow photography enthusiasts.
Keep on using publications such as AP to raise the issues
