How to ensure AI doesn't take your job
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How to ensure AI doesn't take your job
AI just killed thousands of photography jobs
DumbWealth: The intersection of economics, money, AI, humanity and work. Lots of punchy market charts, expansionary thinking, pithy economic insights and feisty career tips.
Just like that, thousands of photography jobs will be wiped out.
Over the past 48 hours both Adobe and Google have launched product enhancements that compete directly with a photographer’s skill.
Adobe Launches New AI Tool for Manipulating Images
Adobe launched its integration of generative AI into Photoshop. It’s official: you can’t believe anything you see. Can you imagine the possibilities?
According to Adobe:
Firefly, Adobe’s family of creative generative AI models, now supports Generative Fill, allowing users to extend images and add and remove objects.
Adobe has integrated Firefly directly into Photoshop, marrying the speed and ease of generative AI with the power and precision of Photoshop.
This is the start of the company’s major initiative to integrate generative AI into existing creative workflows across Creative Cloud, giving users a creative co-pilot to accelerate ideation, exploration and production.
Unfortunately for photographers, the hours it used to take to stage the perfect shot can now be completed in minutes by a graphic designer.
Google Launches New AI Tool for Creating Product Photography
Google launches Product Studio, an new tool to help online retailers create distinctive product images.
The tool can help do the following:
Add custom product scenes
Remove distracting backgrounds
Increase resolution
Similar to the Adobe announcement, the value provided by product photographers - already threatened by DIY retailers using smartphones - is gone.
As much as I like the art form, AI might be the last straw for many pure-play working photographers. If the marginal cost of photography falls to near-zero, to survive photographers will need to focus on highly personalized services (e.g. portrait photography) or expand into other value-added photography-related services (e.g. full service visual branding).
AI-driven job losses and transformation not unique to photography
According to Deutsche Bank (DB), many job roles will be “unbundled”, with generative AI taking over a range of work tasks, many high value.
Writing, coding, art, photography. All affected.
Freelancers are getting hit first, but big businesses are experimenting with ways to integrate GPT into their existing processes (see table below). Some to drive down costs, others to enhance customer value.
Over time, text, coding, images and video created by AI will match that created by professionals (see chart below for anticipated functionality). However, DB suggests occupations requiring science and critical skills are less likely to be impacted.
How to ensure AI doesn't take your job
If you’re concerned that you could be replaced by AI, your role is probably too narrow and task oriented.
For example, while GPT can replace someone asked to write generic travel articles, it can’t do production management, editorial planning, audience research or create a tour company’s value proposition. The writers with staying power will redefine the value they provide beyond simple text output. Same for other affected professions.
