If you are one of the few people who have not heard about AI lately, it stands for Artificial Intelligence. It is essentially a relatively new method of computing, using software that can think for itself, ask its own questions, and allegedly improve its own intelligence at a very rapid rate. This is understandably making a lot of people nervous about losing their jobs, and photographers are no exception.
AI has been writing a lot of blog articles lately (not this one), providing stock tips, medical advice, and a whole lot more. There are also programs available so you can generate your own high-quality headshot photos right at home. I have not yet tried any of these programs, but the basic idea is that you can take some images of yourself with your phone and feed those images into the AI-based software, and like magic, it will generate some brand new “professional quality headshots” for you in no time at all.
Should you jump on the AI bandwagon, or put your faith in a local photographer?
Valid Reasons to Use AI
The first thing most people think of is saving money. Sitting for a new headshot photo is usually not something that is high on people’s priority list, and if you can do it at home and save some money, most would consider that a big win. I can’t blame you for that. As noted earlier, I have not tried any of these programs yet but from what I understand you can get it done for something less than $100.
It’s clearly faster and more convenient. You wouldn’t have to make an appointment, drive somewhere, and everything else that goes with it. You would have to take some photos of yourself or have a friend help you, then load them into some AI program. However, there may be a learning curve to whatever software you would be using or you may be able to upload them to a website, more on that later.
I have also seen photo booths being put up at shopping malls that use AI technology. This would not be as convenient since you would still have to go somewhere and get in some small dark booth to have the photos taken, and depending on the popularity of it you may have to stand in line.
It is definitely trendy. If you consider yourself a techy, then giving AI a shot for your photo needs might be the cool thing to do. There is no shortage of articles and videos out there to get you going in the right direction.
Reasons to Stick With a Real Photographer
You can find out how your photographer intends to use your photos. If you recall, I mentioned earlier that you may be able to upload some of your images to the web for AI processing. The big fear with AI is that if you have to click AGREE or ACCEPT in order to use a website, some software, or have the unattended photo booth take your pictures, what exactly did you just agree to? What if the user agreement allows the software company to use your images how they see fit? You may find your face or likeness attached to some internet ad in the future, and you of course wouldn’t get paid for it. This is a huge concern for people in the entertainment and modeling industry. You can generally avoid all that by using a real photographer.
Communication is very important to the creative process. If you need to call and ask the AI computing system any questions I think you will be out of luck. Software these days is very good, but I don’t think it’s very good at hand-holding. I’m not sure if the AI technology out there is going to talk to you about best practices, clothing choices, or any ideas on posing. My guess would be that it won’t. AI probably also will not pick up the phone if you have any complaints or issues with your photos after the session is over.
Making adjustments along the way during a photo session can help tremendously. When you are able to pause during a photo session and review the photos with your photographer you can notice things along the way that are working or not working. It’s also very common that a certain lighting setup will work great for one person, and not so great for another person. If you purchase an AI option for a certain number of photos and the AI chooses a not-so-flattering lighting option, you may have to do it again. I like to run through a few options with people to see what is going to work best with their face and clothing choices.
Photographers can also give you a choice of backgrounds when taking your photos. I’m not sure what options are out there for AI, but some employers have strict requirements for their employee’s photos. Can AI make sure you meet all those requirements? I honestly have no idea.
Most photographers will have you check the images at the end of your photo session. I make it a point to have my clients run through the images from their session and mark the ones that they like. This goes along with my previous point about making adjustments. If we’ve made the right adjustments along the way, then you should be able to pick some great images that you’ll be happy with.
The AI technology has a way to go yet. There are many reports of AI adding additional fingers and arms to people when creating the images. That is obviously not good! Here is a pretty recent article about some of the pros and cons I have already mentioned. Some of the images I have seen are so good that it’s just incredible, and some of the others are just laughably bad.
What Should You Do?
Automation and AI are already all around us and clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. Some might say that things like photography have an artistic aspect to them that can’t be replicated by AI. However, there are AI programs that are blurring the artistic boundaries and creating some pretty impressive works of art.
That said, I’d say stick with a real photographer for now. If you enjoy a more personal approach with a bit of creativity and collaboration, then using a real photographer is the way to go. It doesn’t even have to be me!
Enjoy…
