I follow the Instagram account of a B&W Photography magazine (
BnW Minimalism) - or at least I did follow that account until two days ago.
They posted an image that was obviously AI-generated and labeled it as a "photograph", which was very much a misrepresentation, and a lot of people noticed this and commented about this. A number of people stated that they felt that the magazine - which is about
photography - was no place for AI-generated fauxtography, and I thought so too. I quit following that account after stating that I thought it was disingenuous to present such work as "photography". Whether or not the magazine realized this was a fake photo or not is unclear, but what is becoming apparent is that this technology is starting to leak into places once occupied only by "real" photography (including digital, to be fair) and its going to be difficult to know which is which going forward.
Part of me doesn't care what is happening with the introduction of this technology, since I will happily continue making work in the way that makes me happy, and if I do so only in my personal bubble, away from the eyes of others - then so be it. But I also recognize the damage AI is starting to inflict on the "art-making" community. I can't help but feel like this is the
laziest tool ever thrust into the hands of wannabe "artists" whose efforts to craft imagery are no more than a few lines of text prompt, while the machine does
all the work for them. We will always find new ways to amuse ourselves to death.
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