Whether you have played with a digital photo editing program in the last couple of years, you have observed a tidal wave swerving towards automation. A single phrase you are going to bump into is ai replace free: quick, open to everybody applications that replace segments of your pictures in a matter of seconds. Like someone because of his or her smile not his/her background? Click, gone. Sick of your ex in a group photo? In a few seconds, AI can cut out such embarrassing memories.
It is more than codes operating behind the screen. AI is opening the doors to editing images, whereas an expert with a mouse was the requirement, today it only requires a tap and some trust. Before the applause there is wisdom to pause. To whom is it beneficial? What is the border between artful play and moral grey? We are about to chew some fat: grab your drink of choice.
A magic wand of AI: Boring cloning to a miracle in one click
Photo retouching before the entry of AI was pure elbow grease. With such tools as the clone stamp, designers were eating hours. Remove trouble spots. Paint in sky. Red eye images. Today, the AI is able to do the same overlaying desired textures and colors bone-deep at the same tones and matching them automatically. Now, it is possible to say, out of the blue, everybody can perform what used to take years of sleepless nights, and too much caffeine.
An example of such free tools is Cleanup.pictures, Fotor or Pixlr which use deep learning. They read the map of the image, then make an assumption or guess on how to fill the gaps in case something is taken. This is not even common blur, new AI models can even reverse complex angles, shadows even subtle skin tones. It is an addictive process of itching to perfection, swipe after swipe, edit after edit.
However, before you proudly feel that you have managed to outsmart the entire digital art community, do put in mind that there is a trade-off. Provide your data to a third party (even pictures are sent to distant servers), and you risks losing the control over your contents. The magic is accessible through free AI tools, and at the same time, it has a cost. On other occasions it is your privacy. Other times it is what you did not read in the small print.
Should the Human Touch or AI Precision Win: Does the Soul Come out Clean?
It is not all about grid of pixels defining a photograph. Every image has its stories, moments, feelings behind. The automatic retouch has a tendency of sterilizing the scene: scavenging off the minor imperfections that made the snap yours.
Human beings desire to control the perception that they have of themselves, particularly on social media. Artificial intelligence tools allow users to airbrush, slim and smooth the features with terrifying precision. On the one hand, this may make self-expression stronger. On the one hand, it can contribute to the nourishment of insecurity, to unrealistic ideals, or even the revision of memories. This is not a brand-new dilemma, recall such a scandal as magazine airbrushing, but with free AI, everyone has keys.
An anecdote: This guitarist was a wedding photographer who used to be frightened of retouching. Hours to eliminate random people in the street scenes. Clients required perfection- the perfect day, a perfect image. Most of that heavy lifting is now done by AI in minutes. However, every now and then, when striving to achieve the state of perfection, a minor photobomb by a bridesmaid, which used to make a family joking story, disappears without leaving a trace. Is the edited image a genuine capture, or the ever-so-clean algorithm guess?
The matter of ethics, and the Free Lunch Problem
The idea of autopilot editing is like opening Pandora box with moral conundrums. At the entrance ingress were kept by creators. AI, though, has tore down the velvet rope. So when you can forge, fake or conveniently remove someone out of an image without paying any money, what is holding you back?
Privacy Trade-off
Most AI photo editors are online photo editors that work free. You can upload your birth announcement or graduation portrait. The magic does occur, but your personal moment is no longer on your disk drive, but is stored somewhere on a firm server, possibly permanently. Not even the much-revered GDPR (in Europe) can be able to keep up with the uploads approach made by startups at all times.
Deepfake Issue and Misinformation
We have already tangoed with trouble of fake news. The misinformation has become a playground with AI that allows facially changing faces or deleting the object. Well-meaning practical joke might turn into defamation, or even, slander. On the one hand, there is journalism that is struggling against the so-called fake evidence that has gained much momentum in platforms at a very high rate. The implication of free AI is that no skills or investment are required to control the visuals, which is far-reaching.
Credit Where Credit is Due?
AI does not only delete, but also creates. Ten image panes to make a sky? Swapping outfits, sceneries, even features? Original creators are lost in the game. Where does the snowballing of edits lead to the ownership of the end product? The copyright battles have brewed, and free tools are no less than the catalysts of confusion.
AI is Democratizing, and Who will be Left Behind?
It feels freeing to see such magic of AI in the palm of your hands. One no longer has to pay a lot of money to expensive programs or be subjected to a complex working process. The non-professionals are given fighting chances to refine portfolios or power side hustles. Small firms give an even game to businesses that have deep pockets.
Compared to that joy there is the other story: The professional photo retoucher, now is being ousted by a browser plugin. There are photographers who are afraid of an artistry gone. There are those, whose creativity is triggered by the shortcut AI provided, who advocate even more strongly toward true to life, subtle photos.
The question you should ask is whether AI is taking the art out of the craft or is it merely liberating individuals to concentrate on their vision, instead of routine? It depends on who you ask or, what is more important, the art or the result.
