Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about three things every artist is up against today: AI, authenticity, and the algorithm. These aren’t small forces by any stretch of the imagination. They shape what we see, what gets shared, and even how we feel about our own work.
This really hit me when I was scrolling through my feed and saw two very similar images stacked one after the other. One was influenced by AI. The other was fully human-made. What surprised me wasn’t the images themselves, it was the comments and social interaction they received. One post had quick praise and surface-level reactions. The other had people saying they came back to the image multiple times because of how it made them feel.
That moment made something very clear to me. Human-made images often come from real experiences, real places, and real emotions. They may not always stop the scroll right away, but they tend to stay with people longer. That difference matters.
Around the same time, I had the chance to record a podcast with my friend Nicholas Albert on the Lakescape Photography Podcast. We talked openly about art, editing, and how reality is different for every person behind the camera.
We also talked about the pressure artists feel to please purists, chase trends, or, in some cases, feed this algorithm. At the core of that conversation was one simple idea: your art should reflect your experience, not someone else’s expectations. You don’t need to apologize for your choices or your style if they are honest and authentic to you.
I don’t think the future of art is about beating AI or winning against the algorithm. I think it’s about understanding their role and then choosing authenticity anyway. AI can be a tool. The algorithm can be a delivery system. But authenticity is the signal that people respond to.
That’s the one thing we still control. My hope is that both the video and the podcast encourage you to trust your experience and keep making work that feels real to you, because that’s what people are looking for regardless of the algorithm or the likes, and shares.
Linked below are the two videos. If you are a podcast listener, you can find Nicholas’ podcast on these platforms: Spotify • Apple • YouTube
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
I was shocked that you showed the AI image that you edited. I didn’t figure you would ever go down that road. It’s one thing to edit either in Lightroom and or Photoshop to make one’s photo look like what they saw and other to do what you showed. This AI image thing is for some people to get noticed in life but eventually this whole thing with photography is going to come crashing down along with social media.
I’m an artist, I was an artist LONG before I was a photographer, about 20 years actually. I am open to new trends, but I, in no way, find AI images to be photographs and have a strong delineation between what is a photograph and what is generated art. I will always pursue new art trends to see how they fit into my work and the expression I want to make. It has nothing to do with “getting noticed in life” 😉
Let’s be clear, this is NOT photography and Photographers need to stop acting like there’s a turf war here. They are NOT photographs. They are digital art pieces that happen to look like photographs.
25 years ago the big cry was that ‘digital cameras’ would be the end of classical photography; 10 years later digital was mainstream and the argument moved to how many fairies could fit on a sensor; slowly photo editing moved from the ranks of the professional (COST) and for the last 5 years all we’ve heard is ‘ ….. image is photoshopped’; When DSLR was KING and Mirrorless was the upstart so much hot air wasted in argument; Now mirrorless is the new normal. Here in the UK we transitioned (in part) to metric trading in the late 70’s early 80’s – the media was full of ‘metric deniers’, all crying it’s the end of trade/business/profit/……. whatever; then there was the mandated introduction of seatbelts in vehicles and it’s associated crying about loss of freedom of choice.
It’s aye the same, something new comes along and society will die; BUT somehow it becomes the new normal and life goes on. I’m not an artist, truth to tell my photos won’t win prizes, BUT landscapes (inc. seascapes) are where my love lies based on my land / offshore geodetic and geology training. I take photos to suit me and I’ll use AI masking / object removal BUT my ‘inner eye’ will always spot false images in those genres.
Very interesting and well mentioned the differences between the effects of IA made Images and and the human made images.Thanks
thank you for being open-minded to the topic.
Blake, yours re some of the most lucid comments I have heard about AI in photography. You are right: there is an almost visceral rejecti0on of anything having to do with AI, and especially generative AI, and I think that often, those who have a more balanced approach are frequently afraid to speak up or fear of being ridiculed. This is especially true in certain photography-oriented forums. Whether you offer Photoshop how-to advice or comment on other photography-related topics, you are always worth listening to. Thanks for all the knowledge you share so freely with all of us.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate your kindness, understanding, and grounded opinion on this. It’s a tough topic to navigate and this video took about 3 weeks to organize my thoughts to create a healthy atmosphere for discussion and debate. Very difficult to navigate in today’s “troll heavy” environment. I appreciate you.
Blake, Both your video and podcast with Nicholas are fantastic. Over the decades, as I’ve gone from the wet lab to the digital lab, I’ve been poked countless times. In that time, I’ve come up with some comments in the hope that I can crack the shell on purists. This has given me more insights for that transition and the newest (AI). I’m always interested in opening peoples minds to new possibilities to art. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!
I love it 😁 thanks for being open-minded and willing to embrace new tech as an art form. This one did a number on me, I was expecting the worst 🤣 but it’s bringing out the best 😁
Thanks Blake, you opened my mind to see the real difference between AI and real photos. I like your perspective and honesty.
Actually I agree with what you said – artists come in all sizes, shapes, and ability. Some create only authentic art or photographs, some combine them with AI, and some only use AI – as long as it is the art that the artist wanted to convey we should eliminate controversy over the method. We have the ability to choose what we want to look at – period. Embracing new and different things should be common place in our lives – I believe that controversy is ‘generated’ by the algorithm displayed in social media of all sorts. We should accept that and move on with whatever our choices are.
Thanks for being open to that discussion.
Hello Blake. Excuse my ignorance, but what is “the algorithm” that you repeatedly refer to without explanation?
Amazing and thought provoking. You always have such a clear way of seeing and explaining these things. Well, everything actually
I really appreciated your view point and honesty Blake. As others have already mentioned the creation of images and art in general has morphed many times throughout history. To some modernists a vacuum cleaner on a pedestal in museum is art. To me it is ridiculous but if someone wants to call it art, I respect their right to do so. I just won’t waste my nickel to visit it.
To the current controversy… A photograph captures something that is real and that the photographer saw. An image fully generated in ai by a prompt, is not a photograph…period! But is an ai prompt generated image “art”? Well is the vacuum cleaner art? “Eye of the beholder.”
Is a photograph that has used Photoshop to enhance and clean up unwanted distractions, lift exposure and balance colors still a photograph? Well, does it stay true to the original? Then to me YES. However, what if it is blended with an ai generated photo to enhance it? Then in my opinion it ceases to be a photograph, but still remains art. Now comes to the really tricky part. How far does it go before the photograph stops? I don’t know and probably never will.
However, all of this discussion is subjective and it is silly for people to waste time arguing about it. When the far more sinister part of ai is looming. That is the ability to change photographs and videos entirely to tell a story, or present a person in a situation that is a lie. The much wider repercussion is that we now have the ability to put humanity in a position where they cannot know if what they are seeing is true or false. I believe that is what people truly need to be concerned about.
Ok off my soapbox. Blake, thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.
~Rae
I agree, but access to AI is just making it easier for those who want to do horrible things with it. To me, that’s not a feature issue with AI, that’s a human issue with integrity. And since the beginning of time, humans have struggled with integrity.
In my experience, most conversations that are against AI are actually against the user, not the AI itself. They use AI as the fall guy and the user is the scapegoat. Nefarious AI is a people problem, IMO
Yes, you’re are right Blake, and I absolutely agree it is a people problem. I don’t think AI isn’t the bad guy, there are areas where it can be used to do much good. I also agree that if people enjoy using it to make their art, they should be able to do so without being criticized.
However, a looming threat to human society is the erosion of reliable information, as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. For over a century, photographs and videos have been critical to support facts in a society that is now globalized, but that is no longer the case. So how will we know? and how will humankind be influenced to act? I sure don’t have the answers, but I think we need to keep seriously asking the questions.
~Rae