Headshots and AI

I’m a self admitted geek and love new technology and AI is no exception – some of the things it can do are absolutely amazing. Photoshop’s use of AI has already improved my workflow significantly and no doubt Adobe has only scratched the surface of its capabilities.

Many industries/professionals are concerned that AI will replace people and their associated jobs – and to some degree that may indeed occur. Technological progress often impacts some sector of society – when the automobile went into mass production, many horsemen were out of a job. But at the same time new industries were created around the automobile that far exceeded the size of the horse related industries, creating tens if not hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

There is growing concern in the creative industry (writers, artists, graphics design, photographers, film makers, etc.) that AI will make their jobs obsolete, putting them (us) out of work. And that might indeed happen, at least at some level - but until machines can actually think, feel, and process in the way humans can, I’ll take an experienced/talented person over a machine where creativity is needed. And many creatives are figuring out ways to embrace AI to make them better at what they do – and I think that is where the real power of AI comes in.

I recently came across a website advertising AI generated headshots – just send them a photograph of yourself and for significantly less than a professional headshot photographer would charge you could get a professional looking headshot. Here’s where the devil is in the details – most people who are looking for a new headshot don’t have a great picture of themselves to start with (that’s why they’re considering hiring a pro!), so the starting point isn’t good. And while the service gives you a number of options, it doesn’t really “know” which, if any, of those is the best one for your brand, creating the feeling/impression you want to create. It doesn’t really “know” or see that when you turn your head slightly in one direction or the other, the feeling is better. Or how much of a smile creates a better impression. It’s a collaborative process – the best headshot photographers know how to create the best look (lighting, clothing, colors, expression, etc. ) and work with you to achieve the look that will create that impression. AI doesn’t “know” what the right look is or the nuances of a smile – it generates a bunch of examples for you to choose from – there’s no judgement, expertise. And it doesn’t provide advice.

The images below reflect the idea of providing different first impressions and emphasis between confidence and approachability that resulted from our collaboration in my studio. They use different lighting techniques, coupled with nuances of expressions to elicit slightly different feelings –the images stand out and hardly look AI generated. As the song goes, “ain’t nothin like the real thing”.