The Future is Now - AIC History of Photojournalism Students Use AI to Understand the Impact of AI on Photojournalism

Students in professor Nordell's History of Photojournalism Class were tasked with a prompt. The following explanation summarizes of Professor Nordell's assignment, in the words of ChatGPT.

"This blog prompt calls for an exploration of AI's rapid developments, particularly its impact on               photojournalism. The assignment emphasizes experimenting with AI tools to create content about          how AI influences ethics, truth, jobs, and the perception of reality in photojournalism. Students are        encouraged to take risks, think creatively, and collaborate by posting their work on a Padlet called          "The Future is Now - AI and Photojournalism."

Students used at least one form of AI to create pieces demonstrating the implementation of AI technologies in our society and the future we inevitably will experience. Students utilized AI to create pictures, videos, and prompts. 

By: Shamar Pink Co-created with Leonardo AI & Chat GPT

Prompt: Create an outlook of brave, young people trying to fight against the world transforming from a photography-based life to an AI-led future. I also asked Chat GPT to create a small think piece on my prompt, it said" As the world shifts from photography to an AI-dominated future, a brave new generation of young creators is fighting to preserve the soul of human creativity. While AI offers instant, flawless visuals, these individuals argue that photography’s real power lies in its human touch — capturing raw, imperfect moments with emotion and depth.

Their battle isn’t against technology itself but against a culture that values speed over authentic storytelling. By using photography as a form of rebellion, they seek to remind the world that true art is rooted in human connection, not algorithms."

Co-created with Leonardo AI and Chat GPT, 10/7/24

By: Morgan Schechter Co-created with Luma

I used Luma to generate a video that showed how, in time, photojournalism would not be as meaningful due to the use of AI. The prompt I used to create this image was the downfall of photojournalism due to the use of AI. If we use AI to replace photojournalism, it will lack authenticity and the emotion we feel. It also will produce more biases, the use of AI comes with a lot of assumptions, as it took a few words to generate the short video above. This video shows a run-down building that is dark and gives off an eerie feeling. You can see the stacks of newspapers, and the cameras are broken and misused.

By: Kaylie Moran Co-created with ChatGPT & Leonardo AI

I started this assignment by asking ChatGPT what they believed members of the royal families' favorite Taylor Swift song. Each of the main members of the family was assigned songs and given a brief description as to why they were given the song. The provided descriptions that were given had something to do with family history or love life. An example that was given includes Prince William being assigned to, " The Best Day," and Kate Middleton being given, " Love Story." Both of these songs are about a fairy-tale relationship and their family history as they are raising their own children. These descriptions match their current positions in life and what is portrayed throughout the media. The next example given is Prince Harry with, "Shake it Off." His description is referring to the negative press and backlash he has received alongside his wife. Lastly, I used Leonardo.AI to create a picture that shows Taylor Swift among multiple members of the royal family.

By: Matthew Garrity Co-created with Microsoft Copilot

I had my prompt emphasize the risk humans are to themselves. A group of them building the very thing that could one day eliminate them. Artificial Intelligence is seen as the upmost level of efficiency, when AI starts being heavily integrated into government functions and databases there won't be a piece of information not known to it. As AI advances it will become more powerful and influential as well. I've already seen an abundance of pictures and videos online edited to mislead or scam people. Experts talk about the risks and how every precaution is being taken but how or when do we know AI is going to surpass us or get rid of us. We truly have no idea what AI thinks, if it can lie, if it can communicate silently with other forms of tech, or the ceiling of what is can do. It is clear as day that no on cares about the risks more than the benefits of AI, I think is has to do with the profit potential. I used Microsoft Copilot to generate this image.

By: Paola Rodriguez    Co-Created with Leonardo AI and ChatGPT

I used Leonardo AI to create an image based on the prompt "The Impact of Technology in Photojournalism." Then I went to Luma Lab- Dream Machine and utilized the previous created image for the video.  Technology has helped photojournalism, but it has affected its credibility to the viewers. Not knowing if the picture is the raw picture taken or it has been manipulated to focus a main point for the person posting the picture raises a lot of questions.  

Then I went to ChatGPT and asked the following question ...

What's the impact of technology in photojournalism? It answered with some key things that affect  photojournalism.

Accessibility and speed - with phones and cameras that fit in one's hands there is more people with the accessibility to photography. With phones the images are basically send and taken almost instantaneously leading to faster reports and updates in real time.

Quality and Versatility- advances in technology have improve the quality of the images allowing for high- resolutions photos across all planforms, digital or print.

Editing Tools-software created to edit photographs helps photographers to edit their pictures quickly enhancing their visual impact and correcting any issues really quick. 

Social media- Platforms like Instagram allow photojournalist to reach a wider audience faster but it also creates questions about accuracy. 

Drone and Aerial Photography- Drones help photojournalist to take picture from unique angles and places difficult to access.

Data Visualization- technology facilitates the faster integration of photography with data helping the telling of complex stories.

Ethical Challenges- the ease of editing and sharing has raised a lot of ethical questions. 

Virtual and Augmented Reality- these new Technologies creates a way of bringing the story to life allowing viewers to interact with the news in more interactive ways.