\nSharing photos through a slideshow\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local photographers are sharing their concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in photography and visual media.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AI and photography\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wildlife photographer Dennis Fast says the increasing use of AI in videos, writing, and photography is concerning, as it can easily create misleading or false content.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see it all the time now on the internet. These wonderful videos,\u00a0they’re\u00a0crazy, stupid, and yet people fall for them and think\u00a0they’re\u00a0real.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast says he has experimented with AI himself, using a program to generate an image.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0didn’t\u00a0even use a picture of\u00a0mine. I just said to the program, can you make me a snowy owl flying slowly toward me with the snow coming down around it? Two minutes later, there it\u00a0was,\u00a0flying right at me.\u00a0This is bizarre.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says AI has changed many aspects of photography, and he is still unsure what to make of its growing presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can either create an image or steal an image online and turn it into their own, and that’s what you see a lot of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast adds that AI use extends beyond photography and is now being used in politics and\u00a0scams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey show a public figure talking in that person’s\u00a0voice and\u00a0saying\u00a0totally bizarre\u00a0things that the person would never say. And\u00a0that’s\u00a0what’s\u00a0scary, and\u00a0that’s\u00a0what’s\u00a0happening with\u00a0scams, too. One of these grandparent\u00a0scams, my grandson called me needing money, and I knew right away it was a\u00a0scam. It was his voice, his nuances, perfectly. And yet\u00a0it’s\u00a0a\u00a0scam.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Keeping photos natural\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photographer Jen Normand says she chooses not to use AI in her work because she feels it takes away from the authenticity of a photograph.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I do show my photos, I want people to\u00a0see\u00a0this is exactly what\u00a0I’m\u00a0looking at. So,\u00a0I find that AI\u00a0takes away from that. For some it may add, but for me it just\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0seem real.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Normand agrees with Fast that AI makes it difficult to tell what\u00a0is real\u00a0on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to watch my nature reels, and they have all these videos now and I\u00a0don’t\u00a0know\u00a0what’s\u00a0real or not. So, for me, it takes away from that experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She adds that she does\u00a0very little\u00a0editing to her photos and feels that AI would only make them seem unrealistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo credit: www.facebook.com\/jennifer.normand.photography
\nSharing photos through a slideshow\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite concerns around AI, Fast continues to find new ways to share his work, including having his photography displayed in a local restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says the idea came together during regular breakfast meetings with fellow photographer Kevin Friesen, when they noticed a TV screen that was not being used.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided, well, why\u00a0don’t\u00a0we put a show together that could just scroll there. And then another friend, Dan Hewson, also got involved and we put together a show that runs here so that people can enjoy some pictures if they feel like it while\u00a0they’re\u00a0having their coffee or whatever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast says selecting the photos for the slideshow was one of the most challenging parts of the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have an awful lot of pictures after many years of photography. But we always look for storytelling pictures, pictures with meaning that\u00a0maybe can\u00a0reach out to a general audience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inspiring others through photography\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast says increased exposure has led to more people reaching out to learn from him or request specific work. He says he has done photography for\u00a0seniors\u00a0homes, groups of children, and a local photo club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me\u00a0that’s\u00a0rewarding because my goal has never been just to make money with pictures.\u00a0It’s\u00a0been to inspire people and to get them to appreciate what beauty we have around us, and\u00a0it’s\u00a0not just about the beauty around the world. Manitoba is a gorgeous place, and the show here features mostly Manitoba.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photographing through winter\u00a0<\/p>\n
With winter in full swing and daylight hours getting shorter, Normand says it has become more difficult to get outside with her camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the week\u00a0I’m\u00a0unable to\u00a0actually photograph, which makes me sad. But come the weekend, if\u00a0it’s\u00a0sunny, you do have less time outside just because\u00a0it’s\u00a0dark by 4:30, you need to have good lighting for photography, wildlife photography anyway for me.\u00a0So, it definitely takes time away being this time of year.\u00a0I am looking forward to spring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While neither photographer uses AI in their work, both continue to explore new ways to photograph, share their images, and connect with the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With files from Judy Peters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local photographers are sharing their concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in photography and visual…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-409501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}