Railfan Technology > AI Technology and what it could do to photography

AI is coming and I think this hobby will crash into it soon. Skill, camera gear, adventure, luck and any other variables could or will be distorted by this "advancement". Imagine a perfectly balanced, artfully composed, perfectly exposed picture of the last westbound LV Maple Leaf adding a sleeper at Bethlehem on the night of Feb 3, 1961?? I think that there are techno rail geeks that will bask in their basement accomplishment of keystroke skill and maybe even pawn it off as a long lost negative just located. That future is here or so it would seem.

Thoughts from anyone?





AI imagery goes against everything I believe photography is about
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/ai-imagery-goes-against-everything-i-believe-photography-is-about

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You'll need to be able to tell the AI what you want...and be specific...too much of a new thing to learn....I'll keep just taking pictures and hoping for the best. Maybe tweak a little later. WHen it comes to consulting AI for anything pictures wise it produces very strange results...almost arty...but certainly never quite what you ask for. 

I went on three different AI sites and asked for a rendering/photo of a double stack intermodal train.  Attaching some of the images they produced in under one minute.

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AI did a nice job in mitigating the grain in this 1959 image on film that was processed in "grain-all" by my local drugstore.  I used a program called Topaz ai. A larger sharper version of the image can be found HERE. So even for a very traditional old time photographer AI can be a tool.  Kinda depends on what you use it for.

JBWX



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/23 21:26 by jbwest.

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That program did a nice job on both images.  Do you literally let the program take over adjusting the scan or do you set some parameters.

Jim Wilson

Wouldn't the addition of a sleeper at Bethlehem to the last LV train using Photoshop be akin to what was cited by the OP using AI?

The difference is a photographer is using HI - Human Intelligence - rather than AI - Àrtificial Intelligence. Yes, AI could do it in seconds but HI could potentially be a couple of days to get the desired result, including all the other picture enhancements and revisions over and above merely adding a sleeper?

When it comes to Photoshop, I am barely past rookie/beginner level. It would be far beyond my skill level to add a sleeper into the picture, scaling it properly, adjusting point of view, adjusting lighting and coloring and 1,000 other things that need to be considered if not adjusted. How about adding honey buckets under the rooms, or a steam hose plugged in? The list could go on and on. How many photographers would remember all the details like those every time they decide to use Photoshop to drop a sleeper into another picture?

Posted from Android

Take a look at the latest "Shutterbug".  AI can now remove chain link fence !  Whats next?   Wires and poles, hopefully.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> Take a look at the latest "Shutterbug".  AI can
> now remove chain link fence !  Whats next? 
>  Wires and poles, hopefully.

The algorithms (primarily math formulas, some conditional parameters ("if... then"), and so forth) are more complex, that's all. Attaching the propaganda term "A.I." is giving a lot of people false impressions on what the underlying technology is. For example, semiconductors that do "A.I." "better" are merely designed to do parallel tasking better, as opposed to semiconductors for general computing, where the "functions" are much more centralized.

I don't recall "A.I." being used for data compression technologies (MP3 for audio, MP4 and others for video) when they became mainstream. Same idea - algorithms to satisfy the human senses.

 

jbwest Wrote:
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> AI did a nice job in mitigating the grain in this
> 1959 image on film that was processed in
> "grain-all" by my local drugstore.  I used a
> program called Topaz ai. A larger sharper version
> of the image can be found HERE. So even for a very
> traditional old time photographer AI can be a
> tool.  Kinda depends on what you use it for.
>

That is in keeping with my opinion that expert and AI software should be a power tool for, not a replacement of, an expert user (an expert in the subject matter, not computers).

I looked about at the other images posted with it and see that the train order you posted was copied by Bob Cartt. He was a dispatcher (among the best) in Bakersfield in 1972-3 when I worked there.

TAW

TAW

jtwlunch Wrote:
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> That program did a nice job on both images.  Do
> you literally let the program take over adjusting
> the scan or do you set some parameters.
>
> Jim Wilson

The program has an "autopilot" feature that is fully automotic.  There are also various parameters that can be adjusted.  I am only beginning to learn how to use the adjustments.  So far I have found the results variable, sometimes like magic, other times not so good,  A major function of the ai seems to be to identify subjects/focal points and create precise (pixel level) masks so that different parts of the image can be treated differently.  For example in the example posted it masked the train to preseve and sharpen detail, while heavily degraining the fore and backgrounds.  In a number of cases I prefer image versions done previously with tranditional Photoshop tools.  And in some cases it produced awful artifacts.  But I'm still learning.  The Topaz Labs website allows you to download a full version for test purposes, the limitation being you can't save the results.  And it works nicely as a plug in to Photoshop.  The program costs $150, including both grain reduction and sharpening programs.  I think there are cheaper versions that do just grain reduction, or just sharpening. The literature suggests it works best on images in RAW foremat, suggesting it was designed primarily for digital originals.  The images I tested it on were film scanned in TIF format, and it seemed to work ok.  Not sure about JPG.

JBWX