I got a new phone a few months ago. I didn't really need a new one, but since my work pays for my phone, I decided it might be a good idea to upgrade from my Google Pixel 8 Pro to the Google Pixel 10 Pro. The move was pretty smooth, and it's actually impressive how easy they have made the process these days compared to even five years ago when you would upgrade to a new phone.
As I was going through the setup, I came across a question from the new phone that kind of threw me for a loop. It was setting up the camera software, and it asked me if I wanted to turn on a feature where it takes several shots, and then uses the Gemini AI to merge those shots into the best version of the photograph.
It wasn't much of a decision for me, but I still had to pause a bit and think about the question it was asking me and the implications of whatever decision I made.
@tarazkp wrote a post a while ago talking about AI enhanced photos and whether or not they are still a product of the artist. Are they even art for that matter. Once you have an algorithm change them, is it still even your work? I think the debate is still out on that. However, as much as I like the idea of having that perfect shot (especially when you are talking about a big group of people), there is something unnatural about it. Since time began, there has always been one person with their eyes closed or one person with a stupid look on their face (usually me), why change that now?
The fact is, AI is starting to touch every aspect of our lives, whether we like it or not. I work in the tech field, so I deal with a lot of different vendors. Specifically Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors. It's interesting how many of them have implemented some form of AI into their products. Of course, it's mostly just chat bots and LLM's that aggregate the data, so nothing super special, but it is amazing how "normies" latch onto that sort of thing.
I can't tell you how many meetings I have been in where non-technical people are presented the "AI features" of some product they are looking at and they basically say "take my money". Meanwhile the tech folks are showing a bit more restraint.
I recently upgraded our enterprise wireless system to a new vendor where I work. One of the big features they presented me with when we were looking at switching was their AI based chat feature. Supposedly it allows you to troubleshoot and analyze your network. It honestly had zero impact on why I selected that solution, but they seemed to be pretty geeked about it.
After over a year of using the system, I have used the AI feature exactly zero times.
Since we were new customers, we got the AI component and a steep discount, but I can safely say when it is time to renew, there is a 99% chance we won't include that piece.
As the title of this post suggests though, there is no escape. Things like this are going to become more and more common as people become more and more lazy and dependent on AI to do even the most menial of tasks.
Of course, I'm not one to talk. I did just create a tool for HIVE the other week using AI. Lest I sound like a hypocrite, I think there are some things that AI is going to be beneficial for. However, I also think that AI doesn't need to be included in every single product just so we can say it uses AI. Heaven knows it seems to work these days in getting people to fork over their money.
With all the controversy around water usage, and data centers, it makes me wonder if much of that could be appeased if businesses weren't trying to cram AI into every single thing imaginable. I'd much rather see a scalpel approach to the use of AI versus the shotgun approach we are seeing right now.
Worse still are probably the instances where you are using AI and you don't even realize it. I'm sure that happens to me on a daily basis. How many people do you think just mindlessly take photos with their phone not even realizing what is happening in the background. It's "automagic" to them that it just works.
"Look at this amazing photo I took"!
How about I look at the mediocre photo you took that AI then enhance to look like your work belongs on the cover of National Geographic. Is National Geographic even around anymore?
In the end, it probably doesn't really matter what I think or what I want. There seems to be no escape.
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Those Pixel phones intrigue me! iPhone has a "magic wand" feature in photos that makes each photo you take look better. I've often wondered why they don't just have a feature to turn it on permanently. Instead you have to hit the button for each photo—every time. I think since AI is still so new and potentially life-changing we're hyper-focused on all of the intellectual minutiae and ethical deliberations. This is good to evaluate and decide where our individual "line in the sand" is in terms of usage. As a larger society, soon we'll get beyond that phase and accept it as a tool. AI is already embedded into the background of our lives in so many ways that the average person doesn't realize—like photo/video editing, algorithms that influence our thinking and purchasing, it's used on every social media platform for various purposes, etc. I see advanced-AI tools like Grok bot being more widely accepted now. Some people are even trusting it to automate their financial portfolios (which I wouldn't do yet) and even partially run their businesses. We're stepping into a strange new future and the scary part is the picture of it is still so blurry.
I've been really impressed with all the Pixel phones I have owned. The times in between when I have went with something else, I immediately went back to a Pixel with my next phone. The one phone that came close to being as good as my Pixel, but not quite was the One+ that I had for a while. Those were much more attractive when they were trying to keep their prices low while still offering flagship features. That eventually went away. I think there will definitely be a point where some form of AI touches everything we do.
I see the benefit of using AI to combine family photos when kids don't all face the camera, keep their eyes open, etc., but it's not a feature I'd want on all the time.
My work has AI and it has its uses for quick keyword searching and data aggregation, but I would never let it do any actual thinking for me.
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I think it's easy to say we wouldn't let it do anything thinking for us, but I also think it is a slippery slope between one side of the line and the other. I wonder how long it will be before it isn't a selling point anymore and it's just common practice without an option to decline it.
At least for my work they've embraced it, so it's a standard feature. Fortunately I'm not required to use it.
Even when making every effort to slow down or pause for relaxation, responsibilities of daily living seem to always have a way of catching up with a person. The only approach is to take things one day at a time to avoid becoming burnt out. Great reflection as always, buddy!
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STOPIt used to be that a photo was taken as proof of how things were, but now we have to trust them less. This may have implications in various areas. I try to avoid using AI for anything unless it can actually do something useful for me. I am not using it for anything on Hive for now. I don't need it to make images for me, although I did use some ages ago a few times when I was playing around. The technology has improved since then, but a lot of the images are very obviously AI.