I appreciate your examples at the end about how you can leverage AI. This fits in with my own philosophy. If there is something that I am capable of doing myself, but it would take a lot longer, I don't feel bad about letting the AI do instead.
I also agree that as a wedding photographer, you're probably safe from AI for a quite a while. Interestingly, as a weather forecaster I also feel safe, even though AI is definitely probably already at a point where it can do the forecasting part better than me or my guys. We are saved by the fact that humans still crave a human connection.
The area of the photography field where people should probably be worried is where there is no human connection. I occasionally see adds for someone offering to teach people how to set up a softbox and lighting in their spare room and do product photography to sell to brands. Maybe 5-10 years ago. But right now, at this very minute, that's already something that AI can do better, in significantly less time, at significantly less cost. Nobody who's going to pay money for something like that really cares whether a human clicked a shutter button on a camera, or just entered a prompt on their computer screen.
That’s a great point, Todd, I never considered a more instructional angle that AI could take. That’s real.
I guess what it comes down to is value and perspective. If you can deliver valuable and watchable content then people will gravitate to your work. If it’s meh and you’re just filling space on the internet, then you’ll have to make room for the robots.
We shouldn’t be worried about AI, but rather the people who know how to really use AI. Those folks will be the next “kid living in his mom’s basement” doing work better, faster and cheaper.
I think we all need to learn the tools so WE can be better and avoid letting AI run the show with all these agents that are apparently colluding to overthrow us. (Thanks @Andrea Hoffmann for the heads up)
I'll caveat up front that I am not a huge fan or proponent of AI. But I think what really makes us vulnerable is not understanding it and figuring out how we can leverage it in certain situations.
I saw the story about the bot social network. It doesn't scare me, basically because when I compare it to human beings, most of the human social networks are significantly worse when it comes to the scare factor.
Look, I get the inclination to feel like AI is dangerous and we should do something to stop it. The reality is, the genie is out of the bottle and it's not getting put back. I think the finances for AI are resting on some pretty shaky foundations, and there is likely to be some sort of a crash and massive consolidation. But AI in our lives in some form or another is not going away in the future.
I think we need to treat AI as garden tools. Useful pieces of equipment when we need them but then back to the shed when we don't.
I don't like the thought of plugging it into my calendar, my house and bank account. Slippery slope...and I've watched too many bad 80s & 90s movies about the "rise of the machines"
This is so interesting! I keep seeing so many people talking about how AI will play a role in the wedding industry - I love your take on how you can embrace it and use it to make your work more efficient. Definitely agreed - it will not replace you
Hi Chris,
I appreciate your examples at the end about how you can leverage AI. This fits in with my own philosophy. If there is something that I am capable of doing myself, but it would take a lot longer, I don't feel bad about letting the AI do instead.
I also agree that as a wedding photographer, you're probably safe from AI for a quite a while. Interestingly, as a weather forecaster I also feel safe, even though AI is definitely probably already at a point where it can do the forecasting part better than me or my guys. We are saved by the fact that humans still crave a human connection.
The area of the photography field where people should probably be worried is where there is no human connection. I occasionally see adds for someone offering to teach people how to set up a softbox and lighting in their spare room and do product photography to sell to brands. Maybe 5-10 years ago. But right now, at this very minute, that's already something that AI can do better, in significantly less time, at significantly less cost. Nobody who's going to pay money for something like that really cares whether a human clicked a shutter button on a camera, or just entered a prompt on their computer screen.
That’s a great point, Todd, I never considered a more instructional angle that AI could take. That’s real.
I guess what it comes down to is value and perspective. If you can deliver valuable and watchable content then people will gravitate to your work. If it’s meh and you’re just filling space on the internet, then you’ll have to make room for the robots.
We shouldn’t be worried about AI, but rather the people who know how to really use AI. Those folks will be the next “kid living in his mom’s basement” doing work better, faster and cheaper.
I think we all need to learn the tools so WE can be better and avoid letting AI run the show with all these agents that are apparently colluding to overthrow us. (Thanks @Andrea Hoffmann for the heads up)
Yes, think twice about offloading tasks to AI. Really makes you vulnerable.
I'll caveat up front that I am not a huge fan or proponent of AI. But I think what really makes us vulnerable is not understanding it and figuring out how we can leverage it in certain situations.
I saw the story about the bot social network. It doesn't scare me, basically because when I compare it to human beings, most of the human social networks are significantly worse when it comes to the scare factor.
Look, I get the inclination to feel like AI is dangerous and we should do something to stop it. The reality is, the genie is out of the bottle and it's not getting put back. I think the finances for AI are resting on some pretty shaky foundations, and there is likely to be some sort of a crash and massive consolidation. But AI in our lives in some form or another is not going away in the future.
No, it’s definitely not going away. But it needs to be controlled in some pro-human, pro-privacy way.
I think we need to treat AI as garden tools. Useful pieces of equipment when we need them but then back to the shed when we don't.
I don't like the thought of plugging it into my calendar, my house and bank account. Slippery slope...and I've watched too many bad 80s & 90s movies about the "rise of the machines"
80s movies should be a staple in programming curriculum!
This is so interesting! I keep seeing so many people talking about how AI will play a role in the wedding industry - I love your take on how you can embrace it and use it to make your work more efficient. Definitely agreed - it will not replace you