AI...Friend of Foe?

The picture at the left is AI enhanced and the one on the right is the original cropped image.

Steven and I have discussed this numerous times with fellow photographers, and we are all wondering where this technology will take us. There is no doubt that it can be used in a negative manner. For example, the recent release of AI generated nude images portraying a very popular singer.  However, I would venture that most serious photographers use some form of AI when processing their photos in programs like Lightroom or Photoshop.  I frequently use AI assisted processes to clean up the image, bring out color that is in the RAW format, or take down highlights that would be blown out otherwise. The image I captured is still the same image, that did not change.  Steven and I believe that AI assisted processing is acceptable in a photo, as long as it doesn’t introduce elements not already in the image.

Is it still alright to add elements to a photo?  Sure. Photography is an art and art can be whatever the artist’s vision is but we believe that there should be some form of disclosure when this occurs.  This brings us to showing just how impressive, and scary AI can be.  

Recently, Steven and I were taking pictures of some lovely snow scenes in the mountains of NC.  I wandered up a trail and found an evergreen I wanted to shoot.  Unfortunately, I could not get a clear wide shot due to a lot of brush, branches, and clutter. I managed to shoot it without all the mess, but it left very little space between the tree and the edges of the shot. I then used Generative Fill in Photoshop to add more space on each side of the tree. It was amazing to see the amount of realistic detail that it created.  While I would not present this as the original photo, I believe it presents my vision. This is a very cool tool to use.