Artificial Intelligence in Photography:
How AI is Changing the Game for Students, Educators, and Photographers
Each semester I start my classes with a similar prompt of “What is Photography”? I find it necessary to have a common definition of the art form that we can use as a starting point. This prompt allows me to meet the students where they are as I love seeing how younger artists are viewing the form.
This week in class the students and I discussed the impact of AI on art and the human experience. The reaction was mixed as some students felt a sense of dread and some were excited about what could be created completely from there imaginations. While we couldn’t come to a unanimous agreement on wether it was art or not, what we did find out was that it forced us to communicate with each other.
“A meaningful expression of creativity that showcases our personality.”
2023 Advanced Photography Definition of Photography
What is Photography?
A few days ago Boris Eldagsen’s image shook up the whole conversation around what is photography. Eldagsen’s image Pseudomnesia: “The Electrician” was this years winner of the creative open category at the Sony World Photography Awards. While Eldagsen declined the award, the conversation is in motion around what is photography. If some of the best judges of photography in the world can not spot Ai, then what will be able to do?
My students and I took the whole class period to discuss the future and look at Ai images vs. real photographs. Listening to the students discuss I realized that their eyes are already trained to take in this information at an alarming speed. While they weren’t always correct, they were able to look critically at the images. “Look at the Eyes”, “Why is the light coming from different directions?”, “What is wrong with the clothing”? These are questions that came up during their discussion as they deliberated and voiced their opinions.
After a 50 minute class the students were correct about 80% of the time in finding the real photograph, but one image did make it in the top three in each class (see below). This image made it to the final round each time despite it being made in 10 seconds by yours truly (me). My assumption is that Ai images that look like hi-res photography seem to have a slight shine, but photographs that are intended to look old are harder to detect. Maybe this is why “The Electrician” made it farther along in the process.
Whats Next?
Each generation has its own pivotal technology that threatens to impact future generations. Orson Welle’s scared radio listeners as his broadcast of “The War of The Worlds” was taken as fact to the unsuspecting listener. TV threatened “family values” and how we interact with others, including sowing divide to this day. Let us not forget that the beginning of photography included ghost photography and manipulating the negative to show a world that may, or may not, be real.
Boris ended up denying the award, but I think he did accomplish a unintentional outcome of discussion. This was the same outcome that happened in our class this week, the students talked to each other and more importantly they listened. The students put their phones away for the whole hour and debated and pushed each other to see differently. I see this as a positive from Ai that could be the determining factor in keeping it as a tool, which is what the students said it was.
“It’s not real at all.”
Elsa Dorfman
Elsa Dorfman, a professional photographer, once said on a tv interview that the reason she loved photography is because “it’s not real at all”. Her perspective on the art form was that we manipulate everything to tell only the story we want to tell. If this is true, then does it matter if its real or fake? To quote my students, if its “A meaningful expression of creativity that showcases our personality.” then maybe it is photography, or maybe not…
-Jerry-
