I don’t use it. I don’t particularly like it. It has its place. But I don’t like it in everyday photography. I don’t like it in my photos. I’m not sure if that makes me lazy or a purist.

Let me explain.

The thrill of photography for me is the challenge of being in the right place at the right time. Seeing the moment. There’s a bit of luck, a bit of planning, a bit of skill. It’s serendipitous when it all comes together. And then you feel like you’ve won the jackpot. And even it doesn’t come together to create something amazing, hopefully you’ve enjoyed the chase. Perhaps you came up with a consolation prize and you can be happy with that.

It defeats the purpose if you then take that photo and turn it into something that wasn’t there. It feel… misleading. Deceptive? Like, it wasn’t really like that was it? That’s not what was there. That’s not what it looked like. You didn’t get lucky with that amazing sunset. You didn’t have to wait forever for the road to clear of cars, you just AI removed them.

It’s the same argument as when Photoshopping became commonplace. AI is like Photoshop on steroids. At least with Photoshop you needed some skill to produce a realistic result. That could be admired. But, what is there to be admired about an AI photo?

I mean, if that’s your thing, go for it. It’s just not my thing.

I’m not against enhancing photos to make them look the best they can. The old masters created magic in the darkroom. I’ve even been known to use the clone tool to remove something that was bothering me. But I don’t think I’ve ever completely altered the photo to look like something that wasn’t there at the time. Maybe I just lack the imagination required?

One thing I have found AI helpful for is when I’m doom-scrolling on instagram and start reading something that quickly becomes identifiable as AI slop, and I get so annoyed that I close the app. So that’s useful.

Disclaimer: I’m not opposed to using it for commercial purposes and reserve the right to do so if the situation calls for it.