Benefits / Resources / Articles
May 02, 2019

AI and Photographers: Is Photography a Dying Business?

“Is photography dying?”

Peter McKinnon poses the question in his video entitled, Crazy A.I. Software Replacing Photographers!

This is a question posed in many industries due to the ever-expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence. Fortunately, most industries are not dying. They are merely expanding past previous boundaries. McKinnon reviews Nvidia’s latest product, GauGAN, an artificially intelligent software that  creates photographic landscapes from elementary drawings.

Are photographers in trouble?

While McKinnon was enthralled by the abilities of the software, it’s still in its primitive stages. In the world of AI, GauGAN is not as groundbreaking as it may seem.  Using deep learning, a process that teaches computers to learn like humans, GauGAN has consumed millions of images and is able to replicate many natural landscape elements to create beautiful works of art.  Those millions of images were created by photographers who braved elements to capture nature in all her glory.

Is photography still a good business to get into?

Of course!  The photography industry in the US is a $10 billion dollar industry with a projected annual growth rate of 1.6% through 2022.  This is why GuaGAN or any other software we dream up is not a threat to photographers. 

Photography is a creative art form comprised of experience, emotion and the internal (psychological and technical) ability to transform external situations into lifelong storied treasures. This is a great time in the photography industry to focus on what you as a photographer bring to the table and how you can be of greater service to your art form, clients and the world, not on which AI software will end the industry forever.

Check out Peter McKinnon’s video on Youtube.

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