Fantastic and Frightening - AI Comes to Photography

Bryon
Aug 6, 2023
5 min read

Fantastic and Frightening – AI Comes to Photography

Is that photo real? You will never know for sure just looking at it.

Is this the end of photography as we know it? In many ways yes. It is now possible for the casual and amateur photographer to easily make an infinite number of minor and major alterations to a photo.

You have probably heard about ChatGPT, the latest artificial intelligence (AI) software, and what it can do. It can digest huge quantities of data and write credible articles on a near infinite number of topics. It can write complex computer code. It can pass the bar. It can write songs. It can listen to and respond to routine customer service calls. Recently the Xfinity AI customer service kept trying to force me to use their automated service after I requested to speak with a customer service representative. Remember HAL’s line in 2001: A Space Odyssey: “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” AI tools such as ChatGPT will continue to put people out of work. And AI will only get better every day. Firms are building computer chips for super computers designed specifically to run AI programs.

Back to earth and photography. With the release of a beta version of the photo editing program Adobe Photoshop with “Generative Fill,” AI manipulation of photos has reached the consumer market. Previously Photoshop experts could manipulate photos. We have all heard about glamour magazine photos of models being “photoshopped” to look unrealistically “perfect.” However, such editing was time consuming and required a deep knowledge of Photoshop. No longer.

With the new Photoshop beta, manipulation of photos is available to the average Photoshop user. I have experimented with the beta version of Photoshop with AI generative fill, and it is both amazing and concerning. The program can isolate a subject in a photo, replace the background, add objects to a photo with remarkable precision including the correct shadows, and remove an object including people from a photo and fill in appropriate background. The beta program struggles with the replacement pixels in very complex situations. See photos at the end of the blog that illustrate AI generative fill manipulation of photos.

We will all have to consider what is an appropriate use of AI for photo manipulation. There are good and bad use cases for photo AI.

Good

Old photo restoration - Photoshop can restore the missing pieces of an old photo by repairing tears and filling in gaps. Previously this type of photo repair would have taken many painstaking hours of work by a Photoshop expert. No longer. The program does an amazing job creating new content based upon an analysis of surrounding content. While I have a moderate level of expertise in Photoshop photo editing, with the new Photoshop tools I can easily and quickly make complex changes to a photo.

Maybe to Murky

Object Deletion - Photoshop can remove objects including people from a photo and fill in the removed elements with AI based replication of an appropriate background. Those unwanted tourists in front of the Lincoln Memorial can be removed. I no longer must get up at 3:00 a.m. to be at the Lincoln Memorial by 4:00 a.m. to get a photo without tourists. An ex can be removed from a group photo in seconds. Photoshop AI has not yet perfected filling in the gap in some circumstances.

Object Insertion – Photoshop can change the clothing of an individual and add an element to a photo with incredible precision including the shadows. You may have seen the fake AI photos of the pope wearing a puffer jacket or seated in a fighter jet. For some reason, the pope is a frequent subject in AI fake photos. Photoshop and other AI programs can expand artwork based upon an analysis of the existing image altering the artist’s original work.

Very Concerning

Inappropriate Changes – My understanding is that Photoshop will not allow “inappropriate” changes. However, other photo and video manipulation AI tools are available that can seamlessly superimpose an individual’s head on a nude figure in a still image or video. The FBI issued a warning about AI generated deepfake images used to harass or extort individuals. We should also be concerned about the misuse of AI photo manipulation tools to further erode societal attachment to the concept that there is a truth and falsehoods should not have currency. While there is a Content Authenticity Initiative by Adobe, BBC, Intel, Microsoft, Canon, Nikon and a growing list of companies building tools that can digitally analyze photo files to determine whether they have been manipulated by AI, I doubt that will matter much since fake news is too often just about creating a weapon to use against an opponent and not about whether it is true. A fake visual image of a negative act has a lot of power.

Family Photos

As I consider the implications for family photos and life story legacy videos, one concern is whether AI will make it easier to create “perfect” pictures. There are AI based photo editing programs that can sharpen out-of-focus photos, enhance low light photos, correct the color on old photos, replace missing pieces, and colorize black and white photos. How far do we go to fix old or new photos? Is it okay to remove someone from a family photo?

What is most important in a photo, especially an old family photo? Does it need to be in perfect focus? Do the colors need to be perfect? Does the background have to be perfect? Does a 1950s photo need to look like a 2023 photo?

I am leaning toward no to 2023 perfect. Yes, we want to clearly see the faces of our family and friends. We want to see their smiles and joyful expressions. We want to see enough to know the location. Ideally, we want enough information to know the story behind the photo. We may want to enhance the photos so we can see these elements, but the photo need not be perfect in every regard. And there may be value in having clear signs that it is an old photo.

While these new AI tools are great in some use cases, I do worry that having tools that can make a photo perfect will distort our evaluation of what makes a photo important, especially for our family archives.

Look at the photos below. I purposely did not spend much time editing the photos to see how quickly AI works. I found the power of the new Photoshop beta with Generative Fill amazing.

Bryon

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about photo AI, below are links to additional resources:

Washington Post Article: Anyone can Photoshop now, thanks to AI’s latest leap

New York Times: An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy

Terry White You Tube Video: Everything That's NEW in the May 2023 Release of Photoshop

Adobe: Creative Encore: New Features in Photoshop Beta — Generative Fill

Bryon in front of garage.

Bryon deleted with background created in 30 seconds.

Bryon placed in new background. Note shadow is accurate.

Lincoln Memorial with tourists.

Lincoln Memorial without tourists in three minutes.

Group shot. (Stock Photo)

Individual removed from group shot. Note the Photoshop was able to create a reasonable image of background behind individual removed from photo. Photoshop does struggle with the removal of individuals and the creation of replacement backgrounds in complicated situations.