What is photography? This is a question that comes up more and more regularly as technology moves further into a dystopian AI reality. From celebrity “deepfakes” to inserting lions into office photos, photo editing is evolving rapidly and it’s making many people, including myself, nervous.
As Apple prepares to launch a series of AI-powered tools, apple intelligenceIncludes a new photo editing feature called. cleaning Different approaches from tech companies are emerging, such as allowing objects to be removed from images. On the one hand, Google’s AI editing tools allow you to completely transform your images by adding lava lakes or converting buildings into spaceships, while on the other hand, Apple’s more basic approach Yes, you can remove the water bottle.
Interviewed by Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. wall street journal To discuss Apple’s approach to imaging software, he summarized Apple’s approach to AI: “We help provide accurate information, not fantasy.”
In an interview, WSJ’s Joanna Stern demonstrates how the cleanup works by removing a distracting water bottle from the edge of the image. Federighi explains: “There was a lot of internal discussion about even the ability to remove that water bottle.
“Do you want to be able to easily remove a water bottle or a microphone? Because that water bottle was there when you took the photo. The irrelevance of the photo doesn’t fundamentally change the meaning of what happened. There’s been a huge demand for people wanting to clean up their visible areas. So, you know, we were going to take that small step.”
Federighi went on to explain that Apple is always thinking about the real-world implications of these AI features, and limits the extent to which users can change images. “We are concerned that photography has a long history and that how people view photographic content as trustworthy is indicative of reality.”
another approach
One way the company does this is by using Apple Intelligence Cleanup to include edits to photos in the Photos app’s metadata. This is something I’ve been discussing at length with colleagues who are Android users, wondering if this approach to understanding whether a photo has been altered by AI is unique to Apple, or if Google and Samsung have also adopted it. Because I wanted to. After all, Apple is one of the few smartphone companies to take this approach, with Google opting for changes to Pixel metadata that aren’t as obvious to end users. I wish this existed on all social media platforms and smartphone software, just like photo editing. Entering new murky waters.
Photo editing isn’t the only area where Apple is taking this thoughtful, perhaps too cautious approach. “When we look at experiences like Image Playground, we’ve confirmed that the images we’re producing aren’t photorealistic. It’s not because the underlying model can’t produce something photorealistic; it’s because someone asked us to We didn’t want to cause any confusion,” Federighi said. Was Joanna really wearing that fluffy hat? ”
This is an interesting insight into how Apple views AI-powered photo editing, and stands in stark contrast to Samsung’s claims that: “There is no such thing as a real photograph.” It took a long time for Apple Intelligence to arrive on devices, which has led many to question Apple’s approach to AI. Some feel that Apple is late to the party and trying to catch up, but it remains to be seen whether the company’s customized approach will be well received by users or its limited AI tools will scratch the itch at all. Only time will tell if it doesn’t. An approach to changing the reality of others.
