Photoshop Generative AI vs Free AI. Is this Photography and what’s next?

People have been talking a lot about Photoshop Generative Ai. But as I’ve shown in other videos, it lacks a lot. In today’s video, we see how good it is and ask, is Ai art the future?

You can get Fooocus free here and here’s a good video to get you started. You can also get the Lightroom and C1 film presets I used here.

I have been learning what AI can do outside the world of Adobe. Hint, it’s a lot and as photographers, we need to know what we are dealing with and how it will affect us.

The AI world is not waiting around. In fact you can download free open-source AI-generating apps like Fooocus right now, install whatever models you want, and create from scratch or edits.

There’s two kinds of photo AI. Assist Ai tools like we see in LR or Elegance Speed Masks.

Edits like I get from Silver or Power Workflow are natural and great. I can then refine those with Blackroom and other Photoshop tools. But how far should we take these AI edits?

Will this ruin photography? Should we use these tools, or reject them? What about the ethics of all this?

A real photo edited with Ai in-paint tools in Fooocus like Photoshop generative AI
In this real photo, Ai tools left our model alone in this real photo but changed the swimsuit into something entirely new.

Ai is not real and still lacks authenticity. This brings us to the controversy in Photography. AI changes everything. But I talk often on the podcast about the brave new world where everything feels fake. Does Photoshop Generative Ai and other Ai tools make that worse?

Ai is a tool and of course, stock photography and illustrative commercial work will start filling with AI images, But people are going to value real things and real photos in the coming years.

We can’t just ignore AI and that’s why companies like Adobe are going in heavy. We can live in denial like many photographers did when digital arrived and created their fate. We must stay on top of the tech and THEN decide whether to use it or not.

A fully Ai generated portrait
Fully AI-generated photos like this will be used a great deal in stock photos. But I think they will add more value to real photos.

With Ai images even being faked as journalism from war-torn countries, we’re already seeing a pushback. People are getting tired of fakes. new verification systems are being created.

AI images are not inherently wrong. Fakery and deception are. It’s important as photographers we maintain the standard of real photos and don’t lie about how our images were made.

Most can see the fakery. Ai images tend to be too perfect and not sold. That will improve, but I think the best use case for it is using AI tools to create better real-world results.

Are your Ai models made with licensed images? Is it fair use? These are big debates happening right now that many photographers and artists are upset about. Because Ai is simply re-creating concepts, poses, etc that real-world artists have already created.

Derivative works are a legit thing. You can study art or read books and be inspired by them and create your own. But how far is too far?

Photoshop Generative Ai is interetsing. But it’s far from the best tool for Ai jobs and where Ai will take us is still open to debate.

Let me know what you think in the comments – Gav

Fully AI-generated street image

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About the Author

Glad you're here.

I'm from WA State USA and started studying photography in 97. I started work as a pro (using that word loosely because I sucked) using film at age 16. I learned fast but was not as easy to find training then. Sometimes I beat my head against the wall until I figured stuff out.

As digital dawned I went all in and got to study with masters like Ken Whitmire. In 09 I founded the Pro Photo Show podcast. I started promoting tone-focused editing. When Lightroom arrived, I started developing tools to make editing and workflow better.

20 years of study and photography around the country earned me a Master of Photography (M.Photog) from PPA. I got to see my workshops and tools featured in publications across the industry. Once I even won the prestigious HotOne award for my "EXposed" light and tone workshop.

Wanting something calmer, I moved to Mexico in 2017. It's a land of magical light. I'm here now exploring light and trying to master my weak areas. I make videos of that for my Youtube channel, sharing what I learn. I hope you'll stick around and be part of Light Hunters Tribe... Gavin

Gavin Seim

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