Nice surprise for this one to be featured on Flickr Explore the other day.

The photography of Christoph Hetzmann.

The photography of Michaël Overberg.

Evenings in sandland.

The photography of Artfolc. Love the most recent minimalism. So white.

You know how you don't really want to be old man yells at cloud guy? And yet.

Yesterday I posted how I was fooled into thinking something was a great photograph when in reality it had been AI generated.

Just today the current top spot on Flickr's Explore is an AI generated image. If you read the comments you'll notice lots of "outstanding shot" and "really great work" mentions.

Is it really great work though?

The "photographer" in this case hasn't really done anything. Well, I take that back. Typing "a cat and dog playing chess" into a text box in Midjourney on their phone while sitting on their sofa isn't exactly nothing but it's not really something to be applauded is it?

I dunno, maybe it is?

Perhaps this is where we're heading with all this. Which makes me think about what human creativity will look like 10-15 years from now in an AI future. Is this possible future one in which we don't create the thing ourselves? Possibly. But where's the fun in that?

Photography is my own creative outlet. I love going out and about with my camera for a few hours, finding some cool things to shoot, before coming home and tinkering in Lightroom for a bit. Sometimes something comes from that and I upload the work I'm proud of. The whole process from start to finish is enjoyable.

Someone else may argue why go to all that trouble when you could just use your phone to generate a better image in 10 seconds? I mean sure, if that's what being creative means to you. That's not what it means to me.

I'd argue it's not what it means for artists, musicians, writers, or actors either. Entire industries are built on humans creating something. Something, unfortunately, that AI could do a lot quicker, and for a lot less money.

But what kind of future is that? It's one I don't like one bit.

I must admit, I was initially fooled into thinking this was a great shot when it appeared in my Flickr feed. But it's AI generated. Cheating? Maybe, but what I do know is that I don't like this trend one bit.

I see me.