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What Do You Think About AI in Photoshop?


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Rich54

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Artificial intelligence is in the news a lot and has also made its way into Photoshop with such things as Gigapixel AI. I have some thoughts and I’m curious what others think.

Hypothetically, let’s say there is a new Photoshop plug-in where you simply enter a set of instructions. For example:
  • Extract all animals and children from three given photos.
  • Merge them into a new background where they appear to be at a picnic.
  • Correct all lighting, color balance and perspective.
You enter these commands, push a button and… DONE! A perfect composite.

To me, this would be no fun at all. As a Photoshop hobbyist, I like doing all of these things myself—it’s the whole point of why I use Photoshop to begin with. For a similar reason, I almost never use Content-Aware Fill. It doesn’t actually work very well in my old CS5 version, but more important, I prefer the challenge and creative control of doing it myself. I don’t really want it to work better.

I can imagine a completely different opinion from somebody using Photoshop for a living. If you have clients and deadlines and a large workload, then “pushing a button” might be a great time-saver for you. And obviously, nobody is forcing me to use these enhanced features. Photoshop can have all the advanced AI it wants and I can continue doing things the old way. But still…

Maybe I’m just too old, but I often think that improvements in AI are sucking the life out of a creative process. I wonder what any of you think about whether Photoshop can ever have too much automation.

Rich
 
Lovely topic, Rich. I have ambivalent thoughts about the topic and the following composition is in no proper structure. Just penning my thoughts as they come up.

If AI gets the job done better, let its proficiency show and make the end user happy. I will let it override me in areas where I would have to inordinate amounts of spend time doing repetitive tasks. I use actions already, I use Object Selection Tool, Content Aware Tool, Auto-XXX as in Auto Contrast, Auto brightness, etc , so AI can be seen as an extension. I do not rely on them entirely. Once I use any of these tools, I would compare and analyse if I can do it better. If I can, I will always have the option of overriding it. Example is Object Selection tool does not always do a good job, so at places where it does not function well, we override it with manual work or another tool.

If at all, competition from AI should motivate me to uplift my skills to the extent that my output (even if it means taking AI's assistance at some points) is better - this is where the challenge still remains. This scenario is a win for the client where they get a better quality result, work is done faster, there is lesser tiredness by delegating repetitive tasks to the tool. It is a win for me too, as I am able to provide a better output in lesser time. It has parallels to automobile industry before the ford era. Assembly process enhanced productivity, letting people concentrate more on quality and other aspects. Coming to photoshop, if I am able to create an image that looks, lets say 30% realistic, maybe with the help of today's AI tools, I can make it look 55% realistic.

From the days (let us say 1940s) of having a model pose and the artist with an easel, oil colour palette, numerous colour tubes, brushes, canvases, etc to five years ago where we work on photos, the output has improved by leaps and bounds. Creativity wise, the artist of 1940's was most definitely more imaginative, more creative and more skilled than a person of 2000's working on an photoshop enhancing an image. If the same creativity and skill of the old artist can be married to the skills of a photoshopper today, imagine how much better the output would be? also imagine the amount of relish that artist would feel on finishing the work.

Having said all that, I share the feeling of nostalgia about doing all that work manually. The sense of achievement I experienced after spending hours on an important only existing photo of grandfather by selecting hair using Quick Mask tool by drawing on individual strands is immense. If I do it today with Object Selection tool, there is no sense of happiness - just a mad rush to see what needs to be done next.

Overall, I think AI is here to stay. We as photoshop users need to adapt it with positivity and see how it can enhance our output while also finding joy in other aspects. Naturally, wherever more manual time is invested would see an advancement of technology to improve efficiency, and that is a given. Being sentimental about it is a saddening feeling which only slows you and also makes you outdated.

Regardless of what, you know we all will still be posting on this forum - maybe there will be a separate section for images worked on AI with new set of rules driving Sam mad?
 
This is a very interesting and extremely topical subject, but at the moment it only marginally affects the Photoshop program.

Unfortunately, this will change very quickly, as there are already powerful AI programs on the market, such as "Midjourney", which generate perfect images in minutes, based only on text code input. It is a tool that designers and even renowned artists are already using every day to gain advantages in the market. Through speed and quality, even "impossible tasks" can be presented to a client as a design draft in a very short time.

For financial reasons, I have been using a simple app for a year now that delivers very good AI quality. It costs only 10 dollars per month.

If there is interest and it would be allowed here in the forum to show generated AI images, I will use this opportunity very gladly.
 
Hi @Rich54
I totally understand when one has more or less mastered some techniques in the field that there is gratification at being able to do so.
I in fact take some gratification understanding what is going on under the hood of Photoshop as it allows me to do things I can't find online.
However, Adobe is very business focused and their larger accounts are as well and keeping Photoshop viable means keeping up with (or absorbing) the competition or else they will lose market share and the desire to even invest in Photoshop in the long term which will bum out those that want to do it the old way.

There are parallels when photography when digital. Some of the analog experts that did all those corrections and dodge and burn in the photo lab, or the photographer that put even more pains into getting the image right on one or a minimal amount of shots bemoan the transition to digital (I do know one photographer that is sticking with film even today). Yet it is not mainstream which a company needing a strong customer base to have a viable product.

That said, one can also be creative in how you use AI today. Think about all the times you wish Photoshop could do something yet no native capability, nor Action will suffice, and a script would do the trick. Yet that's a pretty god learning curve. What is AI could do most of the programming of such a script on short order? I would want that.

So, just to check it out I asked ChatGPT about it and here is a screen capture of the question and answer:

Screen Shot 2023-05-06 at 3.47.38 PM.JPG


Of course one of the issues with ChatGPT is that it will sound confident even if it can't. Yet based on my son asking it to write Python code for a specific task, ChatGPT providing the code, and testing the code and it works, means it is not a pipe dream.

So as the expression goes, when the world hands you a bunch of lemons, go make lemonade :)
Just some quick thoughts
John Wheeler
 
thebestcpu said:
Hi @Rich54
There are parallels when photography went digital. Some of the analog experts that did all those corrections and dodge and burn in the photo lab, or the photographer that put even more pains into getting the image right on one or a minimal amount of shots bemoan the transition to digital (I do know one photographer that is sticking with film even today).
Click to expand...

This is an excellent point. What I consider to be the "traditional" way of doing Photoshop is, in fact, already a major evolution away from film cameras and darkroom chemicals. It's a bit like people complaining that cell phones and social media are destroying the minds of today's youth, which is pretty much what they said 75 years ago about the new invention called television. It all depends on the timing of when you joined the party—whenever you show up becomes what you now think of as normal.
 
chrisdesign said:
If there is interest and it would be allowed here in the forum to show generated AI images, I will use this opportunity very gladly.
Click to expand...
I would love to see the output, Chris. Maybe "Show your work" section is the most apt place, as the art was still generated on your command and passed your approval before publishing?
 
Rich54 said:
To me, this would be no fun at all. As a Photoshop hobbyist, I like doing all of these things myself—it’s the whole point of why I use Photoshop to begin with.
Click to expand...
Sorry to be a little late to this conversation, I've been very busy of late! I totally agree with Rich here!!!!!!!!!

I'm not an old fuddy duddy that refuses to change with the times. I've always been in favor of making my life easier with tech. However, this sentence sums up the problem I see with AI.....,"as the art (or is it?) was still generated on your command and passed your approval before publishing....."

I'm not here to debate whether or not AI generated art can really be considered art. But what I will say is that AI stands to replace anyone with talent. Traditionally and for the sake of this conversation, one would require a certain degree of underlying talent as well as, in certain circumstances, formal training in order to function in the Graphic Design realm. AI will render skill and talent irrelevant. Soon, all companies will assign these design tasks to a minimum wage secretary (if that!) who can easily use AI to create the necessary and acceptable graphics needed for a campaign! Current AI advancement in Ps has already caused the severe decline and dilution of available paying jobs because anyone with a ubiquitous computer can use AI assisted Ps to compete with the actual talent, both natural and trained.

AI, if not now, will soon be able to render anyone who can type with one finger, capable of competing against the most talented of artisans anywhere! I can't carry a tune with the help of a large dump truck! But I can use AI to sample my voice and I can create songs that compete with the greatest voice talents of our current times. Soon, I will be able to create full feature length, SciFi in my case, movies with AI created story lines, AI created scenery, and AI created actors that will rival the greatest writers, directors, actors etc and you won't be able to distinguish whats AI generated and what's not! Speaking of writing, I don't need any skill or talent to write stories and best selling books, just enter a few parameters into AI, and presto, I'm competing with truly talented authors of the decaying past!

AI will render true skill and talent irrelevant! I've seen Chris's AI art.................I'm not at all impressed. I have a 6 year old great niece who can create the same, if not more creative, art using the same AI as he did. There will no longer be a need for any kind of talent. I have to ask myself what skill set will AI render useless next? As of now, anything or occupation requiring a human mind to conduct, will be replaced with AI. Soon the physical aspects of human participation will be replaced..........just look at the automation in the automotive industry.............any automated assembly line process. Boston Dynamics and many Japanese companies are pushing the boundaries of robotics that will only improve with AI..........those talented engineers creating tech will also be replaced by AI eventually if it's not already happening. Architects? who needs them! AI can easily design homes and buildings better and much faster! I have no formal training or skill in either of these two mentioned categories, yet I would be willing to bet that I can use AI to design anything ranging from (all) aircrafts to any structure I can imagine.

I'm not a against AI. I'm just not sure where it's going at the moment and what possible dangers it presents to humanity by rendering us useless little by little. What I am personally witnessing at this point in my life's timeline, is that AI is on the ground floor and already threatening to easily replace human skill and talent. For now, AI is still dependent on it's underlying human programming. At some point as witnessed already with AI coding abilities, the programmers will be rendered obsolete and slow. Before long, I will be able to create apps without any coding knowledge or skill.

Our human nature is to progress and not stay stagnant. As has been pointed out, the timing is in when you show up. One needs to be flexible but I have concerns when the current times are capable of replacing that which has progressed humanity to where we are today..........creativity, skill, and talent.
 
thebestcpu said:
@IamSam I don't think it is quite that bleak yet it is a technology that needs some regulation as it can be harnessed for bad as well as good
Click to expand...
No. I 100% agree that we're not there yet and hopefully it won't get there..............just my opinions on where it's heading. The current "jobs affected" predictions can quickly change as AI improves.............the potential is there and should not be underestimated.
 
Photoshop Beta has this feature called Generative Fill.

Incredible! AI is a part of Adobe suite now. It would be difficult to match this level of productivity at the click of a few mouse buttons.

Thought this video would add to the topic of discussion in this thread.
 
Thank you polarwoc for the link to this video. This next update will change everything.
But you need to be a Photoshop professional with many years of experience to be able to work faster, better and more perfectly for your client and to be able to serve him with several possible enhancement variations to choose from.
 
i think we're all going to be superfluous sooner than we thought.

frankly, i don't think ai could ever create a rubens style painting without having 'sampled' one in the first place. ai is clever at rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic, but not at building the ship without reference.

more old school than the school.
 
Commercially it will be of great benefit. Artistically, you still need more imagination and vision to create what you want. For now.
And how many options can AI offer? At what point do numerous separate images begin to look the same?
For some reason I feel somewhat traitorous to the craft even upgrading to the new PS version with generate fill.
Personally, I'm going to resist upgrading as long as I can...
 
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