For we who make composite images: I went to Pixabay today looking for pictures of Louisiana Bayous for use in composite images. Just for laughs I searched the tern "AI". Pixabay lists...

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

I went to Pixabay today looking for pictures of Louisiana Bayous for use in composite images. Just for laughs I searched the tern "AI". Pixabay lists 128,251 images under that category. Some, as I expected, were quite crude and easily identified as AI but many I looked at were photographic quality and would, I think, deceive anyone.

I suspect that AI images posing as actual photographs are ubiquitous on most internet sites where we go to get photographs of things we don't have the time or opportunity to take personally. Have we now, out an abundance of caution, reached the point where we must suspect all images that we did not take ourselves as potentially AI generated?

User ID

Curmudgeon wrote:

I went to Pixabay today looking for pictures of Lo... (show quote)

If we didnt produce the image ourselves, why should it matter to us how a "borrowed" image is generated if the image serves the purpose ?

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

User ID wrote:

If we dont produce the image ourselves, should it matter to us how the "borrowed" image was generated if the image serves the purpose ?

On UHH yes. If my composite image contains AI generated images, I am only allowed to post it in two places: Digital Imagery, where I must inform viewers that it contains AI image(s) or AI Artistry and Creation where no such warning is necessary.

Nigel7 Loc: Worcestershire. UK.

Is this not a photographic blog. A photograph by definition is produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. Therefore using AI to create a new image is nothing to do with photography and should have no place on UHH.
Using AI to clean up a grainy image originally produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material is not so clear cut.

User ID

Nigel7 wrote:

Is this not a photographic blog. A photograph by definition is produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material.

That WAS historically true. But, that was now and this is then. Time and tide wait on no one, and many will be washed away. Sink or swim.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Nigel7 wrote:

Is this not a photographic blog. A photograph by definition is produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. Therefore using AI to create a new image is nothing to do with photography and should have no place on UHH.
Using AI to clean up a grainy image originally produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material is not so clear cut.

Thanks for responding Nigel.

No this is not a blog. I is "The Main Photography Discussion". This is where we talk about anything related to photography. The use of photographs is discouraged here except to illustrate a specific point.

AI is clearly not photography, but it is image creation. AI images are increasing both in quality and quantity across the web and in many cases indistinguishable from photographs. It is time to face the fact, AI is here to stay, and we, as photographers/picture takers need to decide how our community is going to handle it.

I believe that the issue of AI in post processing is clear cut, It turns a photograph into an image.

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

Curmudgeon wrote:

I believe that the issue of AI in post processing is clear cut, It turns a photograph into an image.

I know it's nitpicky, but a photograph is also an image.

I think what you meant was using AI to change a photograph turns a photo into an illustration. That is what I consider AI art to be, illustrations. Computer-Generated Illustrations/Imagery, or CGI.

Illustrations can also be hand drawn or painted, or made on a computer using digital tools, but while some can be called "photorealistic," all are images, all are illustrations, but none are photography.

Bill_de Loc: US

User ID wrote:

That WAS historically true. But, that was now and this is then. Time and tide wait on no one, and many will be washed away. Sink or swim.

It's kind of sad. I enjoyed mixing chemicals and watching pictures appear in the tray. However, every step forward means we leave something behind, I wouldn't want it any other way. Without moving forward most of us would stagnate. IMHO

---

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

terryMc wrote:

I know it's nitpicky, but a photograph is also an image.

I think what you meant was using AI to change a photograph turns a photo into an illustration. That is what I consider AI art to be, illustrations. Computer-Generated Illustrations/Imagery, or CGI.

Illustrations can also be hand drawn or painted, or made on a computer using digital tools, but while some can be called "photorealistic," all are images, all are illustrations, but none are photography.

There was already a longstanding word that applies to images made of actual photographs combined with AI generated elements - Mixed Media.

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

JohnSwanda wrote:

There was already a longstanding word that applies to images made of actual photographs combined with AI generated elements - Mixed Media.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Curmudgeon wrote:

On UHH yes. If my composite image contains AI generated images, I am only allowed to post it in two places: Digital Imagery, where I must inform viewers that it contains AI image(s) or AI Artistry and Creation where no such warning is necessary.

Well if you didn’t take the photo it really doesn’t matter. Either way it’s not your work.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

terryMc wrote:

I know it's nitpicky, but a photograph is also an image.

I think what you meant was using AI to change a photograph turns a photo into an illustration. That is what I consider AI art to be, illustrations. Computer-Generated Illustrations/Imagery, or CGI.

Illustrations can also be hand drawn or painted, or made on a computer using digital tools, but while some can be called "photorealistic," all are images, all are illustrations, but none are photography.

Thanks for taking the time to commenting Terry. An image is not necessarily a photograph

Nigel had it right, A photograph by definition is produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. I don't want to play word games (I refuse to use the word semantics in polite conversation) and the accepted term for AI images is "image".

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

SuperflyTNT wrote:

Well if you didn’t take the photo it really doesn’t matter. Either way it’s not your work.

What if I took two of the four used in the composite image?

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Curmudgeon wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to commenting Terry. An image is not necessarily a photograph

Nigel had it right, A photograph by definition is produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. I don't want to play word games (I refuse to use the word semantics in polite conversation) and the accepted term for AI images is "image".

All photographs are images, but not all images are photographs.

NickGee Loc: Pacific Northwest

User ID wrote:

That WAS historically true. But, that was now and this is then. Time and tide wait on no one, and many will be washed away. Sink or swim.

Yep, brave new world. Cameras optional. All you need is a computer with a good graphics card.