About AI.

Below are 2 versions of the same blog post first is me trying my best to communicate with out images, second is me using the only AI I do use. Do tell me via the contact us page which you prefer.

JASON:

I am a photographer, Not a writer, nor am i good at public speaking.

I don’t use AI to create images.

I resist AI editing tools, most don’t do what i am wanting done and I don’t have the time to teach them what they get wrong. I really don’t get the time in any slice of my day to work on my art as i would like, certainly not going to waste it teaching AI to do it for me as that would defeat the purpose.

The only AI image tool I have found helpful is spot removal tools, as i am forever struggling to keep my sensor and lenses clean in the Wyoming wind.

This is not a creativity tool.

I do use AI for Writing, I have spent some time training my chat GPT account to mimic my voice and style while improving my grammar and spelling, which are not as bad as my handwriting - that is truly horrible.

I know that with out my permission AI is learning from my images, and my success or failure, how to supply its customer images they want. I do wish i could be compensated for this service, or credited. I know that it would be a miracle to even be acknowledged by those extremely wealthy individuals who run these things, much less share a smidgen of that wealth with me.

AI will replace me at my day job eventually, and for some people it will replace my art. I can’t stop that.

I have made my art for myself for the last 25 years, I chose to share it from a mix of reasons;

1. I didn’t want it to disappear when i die.

2. The act of production is expensive.

My personal finances have always dictated to me what freedom to create i really have (in reality much less then i do, you should see my debt ratio).

This is my best un-assisted -except spell check, writing. To help me be clear and not repetitive i will use AI for written communication. I need to as sometimes what I think I wrote and what is written are way out of sync. I will use AI to help me with file sizes and display resolutions and finding all those little details that help make a product more compatible with my customers lives.

It took longer to proof this such as is it then to write below is the AI version You tell me what i should do. SO having read the AI version I do like it better.

AI ReWrite:

I am a photographer. I am not a writer, and I am certainly not a good public speaker.

I don’t use AI to create my images.

I also resist most AI editing tools. Most of them don’t do what I actually want done, and I don’t have the time to teach them what they got wrong. I already get far too little time in any given day to work on my art the way I would like. I’m certainly not going to spend that time teaching an AI to make my artistic decisions for me. That seems to defeat the purpose.

The one AI-assisted image tool I have found genuinely useful is spot removal. I am forever struggling to keep my camera sensors and lenses clean in the Wyoming wind, and I am perfectly happy to let software help remove the evidence.

To me, that is not a creativity tool. It is a cleanup tool.

I do use AI for writing.

I have spent some time working with ChatGPT so that it understands something of my voice and the way I tend to express myself. I use it to improve my grammar, spelling, organization, and clarity without turning what I have to say into something that no longer sounds like me.

My spelling and grammar aren’t nearly as bad as my handwriting, by the way. My handwriting is truly horrible.

I also have mixed feelings about AI itself.

I know that, with or without my permission, systems like these may learn from the work of photographers, artists, writers, and other creative people. Our images, our successes, our failures, and the choices we make all have value. They help these systems become better at supplying someone else with the image or answer they want.

I would like the people whose work contributes to that process to be compensated or, at the very least, acknowledged.

I realize that expecting a meaningful share of the enormous amount of money surrounding AI may be optimistic. I would probably settle for the miracle of being acknowledged by some of the extremely wealthy people and companies building these systems.

AI may eventually replace me at my day job.

For some people, AI-generated images may also replace the kind of art I make.

I can’t stop either of those things.

But I have been making photographs for myself for roughly 25 years. Long before I seriously tried to sell them, enter competitions, hang them in galleries, or build Jason’s Light Works, I made them because I wanted to make them.

I eventually decided to share the work for a mixture of reasons.

First, I don’t want it all to disappear when I die.

Second, making physical art is expensive.

Printing, paper, ink, framing, cameras, travel, exhibition fees, and all the other things involved in producing this work cost real money. My personal finances have always had a great deal to say about how much freedom I actually have to create.

Probably more than they should.

You should see my debt ratio.

The words you are reading above this version are my own best unassisted writing, except for spell-check. It actually took me longer to proofread it—such as it is—than it did to write it.

Below it is this version, produced with the help of AI.

That is roughly where I draw the line.

I will use AI to help me communicate more clearly when what I think I wrote and what actually appeared on the screen are sometimes two very different things.

I will use it to help me figure out file sizes, display resolutions, website details, printing information, and all the other small technical questions that can make my work easier for people to find, understand, buy, display, and live with.

But the photographs are mine.

The decisions about what to photograph, where to stand, when to press the shutter, which image matters, how it should look, how it should print, and whether it is worth showing are decisions I still want to make myself.

That part is the reason I do this.

So now you have both versions.

You tell me which one I should use.