I’m going to venture out on thin ice, here. I’d like to make some observations on Artificial Intelligence by commenting on something I will instead refer to as “Artful Intelligence”. In either instance, I’m referring to the ever more popular discussions about the rapidly growing occurrence of FAKE photographic images and videos that are flooding media – especially social media and (so called) news outlets.
In my humble opinion, these modifications of imagery are far, far, from “intelligence”. Add the word artificial – as in the popular “AI” reference – and you find the subject matter moving even farther away from the concept of true intelligence. I would like to suggest the term “artful Intelligence” to better describe what we at P-Tn (along with countless other skilled photoshop technicians and talented photographers) have employed for many years, to enhance the quality of photos for our valued clients. Using computer techniques to improve the quality & appearance of subject matter in images has been appropriately employed to create a cleaner, more professional end result … at a cost far lower than having to make everything in a scene absolutely perfect at the time of the photography.
The above is simply good business; good for the client’s final image and good for keeping costs under control. Removing dirt from a sidewalk in an architectural photo, trash from the lawn in an aerial, acne from the face in a portrait, or taking out an old vehicle that could not be removed from a parking lot. There are an endless number of examples of using retouching or image modification to improve a picture for the end-user or client. For the most part, these efforts are not malicious and are intended to benefit all parties involved. Even before the digital revolution, these ‘improvements’ were routinely made using airbrushing and other artistic techniques. Hence – my term “artful intelligence”.
When the term “AI” began to proliferate – everywhere – it annoyed me that this concept was now viewed as the greatest new thing since ‘sliced pixels’. I do understand that AI is now referring to a level of computer intelligence that offers digital manipulation at levels never before imagined, or within practical reach in the past. But it is simply the next step along the road of image manipulation that photographers and other creatives have been following for decades. One major difference is that AI now offers the removal of humans from the creative process – almost entirely. This makes the process faster, and more accessible to all. By the same token, it invites removal of the human traits of common sense, honesty, fairness, integrity, purpose, quality, etc. Ethics – all the aspects that humans should be applying to the process of image manipulation may now be casually discarded in favor of the thrill of (quickly) making something so unique it will fool any and all who view the end result. What a shame we have progressed to this point. And shame on those who use this tool for nefarious ends.
We will continue to improve the visual quality of our still photo and video footage imagery for our clients at P-Tn, as we have for half a century. But we have never dishonestly altered images to misrepresent the truth or the facts shown in our Visual Documentation records, and we never will. I remember the first time I was asked to alter (backdate) the date we stamped on our black & white progress photo prints; that was back in about 1976, if I recall. I explained to the contractor that I could never compromise my integrity by doing so – and, fortunately, they accepted my position. The period of time during which we converted from ‘real’ film negatives to digitally scanned images, and eventually to all digital capture, was a struggle for our clients and their attorneys to accept digital files that could be altered VS tangible film that offered ‘proof’. Well, those changes have settled in, and now we’re at another level of image alteration – misrepresentation, if you will. The integrity of photos and videos once again comes down to the moral quality of the creator or distributor – not the perceived quality or realism of the image you are looking at.
There are more and more articles available to help the general public recognize the subtle errors or inconsistencies that are detectible in today’s “AI” generated photos and videos. Learning to recognize these details is a challenging process, and never 100% reliable. It can be valuable to know how to spot the “fakes”, however. In the end – unfortunately – we now must all be skeptical of nearly everything we see (and hear), placing our trust instead in the proven character & moral value of the people who are bringing that information to us.
These articles might help … or consider searching “how to spot fake AI images” on your own.
The Epoch Times FAKE IMAGES ARE EVERYWHERE – HERE’S HOW TO SPOT THEM.
How to spot AI images: don’t be fooled by the FAKES.
HOW TO DETECT DEEPFAKES / DEEPFAKES EXPLAINED (YouTube Video)
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