[Fenwoodian]

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I recently purchased two image processing softwares (Luminar 4, Topaz Gigapixel AI) that incorporate A.I. (artificial intelligence) in them. I'm very impressed with the first generation A.I that I've experienced with both of these products.

Also, I've downloaded and am testing a free trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020. It also incorporates A.I. into some of its' new features (e.g. turn a sharp background into an out of focus background, replace skies, smart auto-selections, etc.).

1. What has been your experience with image processing A.I software?

2. Do you think it's the future of post processing?

3. Will it take over your computer and turn you into a Zombie slave?
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Last edited by Fenwoodian; 10-12-2019 at 12:52 PM.

[Adam]

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I recently purchased two image processing softwares (Luminar 4, Topaz Gigapixel AI) that incorporate A.I. (artificial intelligence) in them. I'm very impressed with the first generation A.I that I've experienced with both of these products.

Also, I've downloaded and am testing a free trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020. It also incorporates A.I. into some of its' new features (e.g. turn a sharp background into an out of focus background, replace skies, smart auto-selections, etc.).

1. What has been your experience with image processing A.I software?

2. Do you think it's the future of post processing?

3. Will it take over your computer and turn you into a Zombie slave?
.

I think it is, yes. AI is nothing more than computers learning from their mistakes. If more data than just the image at hand can be used to improve PP results, then surely that's the way things will be headed

[StiffLegged]

I broadly agree with Adam, but will it take over my computer and turn me into a Zombie slave? Certainly not, O master.

[crazy4oldcars]

Codicil to the OP's questions:
If the A.I. is post-processing everyone's photos, will they all tend to look the same?

Kirk B.

[dms]

I have no specific background for (true) AI in PP, but I do have (collaterally) in other engineering. This is a "completeness question" but this not the case of most documentation type photo's. The problem is we cannot think of/test everything, so when pp

1. the ideal pp option may not be part of the past history/learning, and
2. for an image there are sometimes more than one acceptable path (high key, low key, etc.),

and the more art and less photo-journal/documentary the image, the more likely these happen. Basically the AI is really (for these cases) the photographer brain doing prior work w/ pp, so they have learned how, and when he/she really needs to rise to the occasion they can do it.

[DeepThrob]

I have seen Athentech Perfectly Clear and it did a pretty good job of auto post processing.

[jgnfld]

I broadly agree with Adam, but will it take over my computer and turn me into a Zombie slave? Certainly not, O master.

I don't unless we can make AI's that have my personal tastes. Maybe I WANT the exposure to be darker or lighter for some reason? Unless the AI can handle individual tastes you will never be a zombie slave unless you let it happen.

[Tas]

An interesting set of questions Dave.

I don't yet have experience with AI developed into a program, however when/if I upgrade On1 Photo RAW 2019 to 2020 then I will be able to try it out for myself. I'm thinking their use of AI is different or less than what is being used elsewhere so whether I will get much use out of it is a TBA.


I say that as I like to avoid auto functioning and PP each photo individually. I do this as I don't do volumes that justify it though having said that I always use the same workflow and AI doing that when I tell it to could be useful. And considering the development of AI into the variety of PP software it would be hard to discount that it has a future. Indeed future generations where you are teaching the AI what your style preferences are could allow AI based programs to be more than a time saver for wedding and commercial photographers. Maybe a thread to identify what AI is being used in the different software could be something to ask. It would be interesting to see who is doing what with AI in the various PP platforms in 2020 as it will likely change rapidly (IMHO, YMMV etc)


You could be right about the zombie slave thing too. I mean, AI is doing things that have exceeded expectations and we as humans have a history of misusing technology so can I offer a serve of brain?

Tas

[Fenwoodian]

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Great responses from all - thanks!

I have an iPhone. The latest smart phones already incorporate some A.I. processing into their cameras (e.g. smartphone "portrait" modes that blur the background). With our "big cameras" being relatively dumb in comparison, maybe the long term plan is for computational A.I. to be incorporated into post processing software in the absence of it being built into our big cameras?

Maybe the future of big cameras is to have them simply record the light, and leave the computational work to post processing on our laptops and desktops (which are much more powerful then smartphones)? This might be one way to continue to differentiate the capabilities of big cameras from smart phone cameras.
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[impossibro]

If they could incorporate AI technologies into the jpeg engine of a camera, that would be pretty awesome (smartphones already do it). You get to keep your untouched raws for editing on a desktop while the AI enhanced jpegs can be used straight off the camera to publish wherever you wanted.

[othar]

Do you think it's the future of post processing?

At the moment I just own 1 programm that incorporates some form of AI (and I never use it )
But in the future they will take over increasingly more parts of the pp work for sure. So yes they are to an extant the future of pp in my opinion.
That said I don't think they will completely take over the whole post processing work for everyone (for many people AI will take over all the work, but I think there will remain some photography enthusiasts who put more work into pp themself to get something unique)

[AggieDad]

I find two uses for the AI in my Luminar PP software. First, it is great for doing quick work on things like family snaps and travel photos; second, it is very handy to create a starting point when doing serious post-processing.

I have no doubt it will continue to get better with each iteration.

[Tas]

That said I don't think they will completely take over the whole post processing work for everyone (for many people AI will take over all the work, but I think there will remain some photography enthusiasts who put more work into pp themself to get something unique)

This is the key to where I see AI going too, something mentioned by others earlier in this thread as well. AI will be good for certain things in PP and will in those instances be a game changer for saving time and improving the keeper rate. An important goal in business. And for those businesses there's a logic for that AI to step into the capture space as well as then composition and exposure will be 'perfect' and for those styles of shooting it will be really handy. And that is the dilemma we're really only getting to the start of with AI, what it can do and what we really should be doing with it.

As you've alluded to, there's not likely to be a complete takeover of all PP. It's good but is it right in all circumstances. For example we already have AI programs able to compose music. But who cares? Is music just sound that is rhythmic, or does it have a more emotional connection for people? I think the latter is important as no amount of AI could allow you to connect to a machine in the way you connect with your favourite singer/musician etc.

To explore that more, this recording of a Frank Sinatra track was created at the end of his relationship with Ava Gardner.

You Tube

You Tube

Here is a comment posted to YouTube on another upload of this track:

Frank co-wrote this song, (one of 7 he co-wrote) and recorded it in 1951 and again in 1957 -- "to want a love that can't be true, a love that's there for others too." He was married to Ava from 1951 to 1957, the year his divorce from her was final. (It is said he broke down in the recording studio while recording this, no doubt in 1957!) Notice his inflection on the phrase "then would come the time, WHEN I WOULD NEED YOU" -- I'm quite sure he felt the loss of her and it shows in this song -- his voice breaks just a bit on "you," which I'm sure was his 1957 version. So tender, yet so sad. (It would be 9 years before he would marry again, and that was over long before the divorce, which was 2 years after the marriage! He needed a woman, not a child, and 8 years later, he married a companion, which lasted until he died.) This song is on his album "Where Are You" a favorite album of mine, one of three that Frank called his "suicide albums!" I have them all, but this is a favorite.

As good as AI is and will no doubt become, the above is a human connection and where I think humans will still be the artists.

So I see photography the same. If it can be done by a machine, is it still art? These guys here: Photomorphis. Photography Evolved. create a heavily processed style in their imagery. It's not to everyone's tastes, but i think that is the key here. We're humans, we're attracted by certain things and build a relationship with the creator(s) of that thing, whether it be music, painting, architecture or photography.

I hope you're right in thinking that there will remain humans who choose to create, no matter how good AI becomes.

Tas

[DeadJohn]

What has been your experience with image processing A.I software? I've had reasonably good results with edge detection software for complex layers and context-aware erase. Depending on how one defines "A.I.", that may or may not qualify.

Do you think it's the future of post processing? It's the future for many software applications. Write software once and then let it learn how to improve itself over time.

Will it take over your computer and turn you into a Zombie slave? No, I don't think A.I. will force me to go out and take photographs on its behalf. I'll be old and gone before A.I. has that much control. I do, however, expect some photo processing software to do A.I. trickery with photos, sometimes without us knowing. One smartphone manufacturer is already suspected of detecting photos that have the moon in them, then automatically pasting in a better copy of the moon taken with a DSLR.

[DeadJohn]

If anyone remembers Microsoft's oft-hated Clippy assistant, maybe there will be an A.I. photo version: "It looks like you took a photo of the Eiffel Tower. Would you like to substitute a better photo of that taken by a pro?"