Photo How To

Are you one of the many photographers who are concerned with the ethical implications of using sophisticated AL tools to create your imagery? Today's video from a California pro discusses his approach to the ongoing debate, and he raises some interesting considerations you may not have considered.

Photographers trend to fall into one of three camps: There are those who consider themselves "digital creators" and have no qualms about AI because they always identify their photos as benefiting from artificial intelligences. Then there are AI enthusiasts that catch a lot of flak for directly or indirectly passing off their "fakes" as real photos.

The third group is the target of this 11-minute tutorial; namely, those who aspire to an ethical approach to AI for saving time and enhancing images in the same way "legitimate" adjustments are achieved with conventional post-processing tools.

Instructor David Herring is careful to follow what he considers the cultural and ethical guiding principles of our craft, and freely admits that AI is part of his everyday workflow. But Herring employs powerful AI tools within narrow limits that he describes like this: "I don't use AI to replace things with things that weren't there. I don't use it to add or expand a part of an image, and I certainly don't use AI to introduce new elements that weren't in the original scene."

Some of you may think that the foregoing taboos are the only benefits of AI, and Herring explains why you're wrong and how it's easier to make a variety of adjustments without crossing his red lines. Bottom line: "My goal is to keep AI ethical for me and help you define the word ethical for you." Fair enough.

Herring walks you several responsible strategies that rely upon AI solely for efficiency, and his mantra is one you may want to embrace too: "I use AI in the same way I used Photoshop before it was even a thing. I haven't let AI change how I shoot, it hasn't changed me as an editor, it hasn't changed my vision, and I don't let it affect my creative output."

After watching this eye-opening lesson there's a good chance that your opinion of AI will change dramatically in a way you never imagined. And so may your post-processing workflow. Herring's popular YouTube channel features other thought-provoking discussions like this one, so be sure to take a look.

And don't miss a tutorial we featured last week with another accomplished pro who provides a very helpful primer for inexperienced Photoshop users who don't understand how to edit their images with Curves using his three simple tricks.