Hi,
I'm against taking an official stand on this for the following reasons:
1. There is no consensus on what "AI" means. darktable already uses
algorithms that may count as "artificial intelligence" depending on
someone's viewpoint, and on the other hand algorithms classically used
for generative AI can be used in endless other, "non-problematic" ways.
The distinction is arbitrary.
2. There is no clarification what "100% AI free" or "mechanization of
photography" or "human style" photography means in this context, or
where you think exactly the software starts making "creative decisions".
Depending on how one argues, one could e.g. see the existing "retouch"
module or even the copy/paste functionality as already being problematic
in these regards.
3. I'm actually in favor of the "mechanization of photography" at least
to some degree. The machine doesn't have to take everything away from me
or generate (parts of) images I've never taken, but stuff also doesn't
have to be pointlessly hard because functionality is missing due to
arbitrary decisions. Would it be nice to be able to train an algorithm
on all my previous edits so freshly imported images automatically have
the basic settings set up similar to what I would do to those images
anyways? Sure. Create masks from auto-segmentation, so I don't have to
manually draw all of them all the time? Sure. Content-aware denoise?
Sure. Generative fill in the "retouch" module? Maybe, heavily depends on
how it's done. Do I want darktable to go in the same direction as
Luminar, where people can even automatically swap out the whole sky for
a stock image? Probably not, but other people might see some value in
something like that.
darktable is just a tool. Social issues cannot be solved by (limiting)
technology.
With kind regards,
Simon
Am 22.09.23 um 12:29 schrieb Jason Polak:
Dear darktable devs,
I am not sure how well this will be received, but I have a proposal.
Probably everyone knows that AI and particularly generative AI is taking
the world by storm. Adobe and many other Raw developers embed it into
their products.
One of the great things about darktable is that it does not offer any AI
tools. This is amazing because people can use it as a product without
supporting AI (simply using AI is supporting its development).
I was wondering what the devs thought about this?
My thinking is that AI takes us out of the realm of free-functioning
creativity by making creative decisions for us. It's a mechanization of
photography and it ultimately harms it.
So, IF you agree with this, I was wondering if the darktable team would
like to make a stand with me against AI, by stating that darktable will
not use AI in the future, or offer any AI tools? I know this email may
seem rather strange to all of you but I think AI poses a real danger to
humanity. I am creating a sort of informal coalition of artists and
people who do not use AI.
I have a YouTube channel and I already put "AI Free" on my YouTube
channel. I attached an example of the button I created in Inkscape for
this and I provided an SVG for some ideas. I know this sounds rather
radical, and I am not trying to force anything on anyone. Everyone has
to make their own choice about AI.....
Again, I know I'm a bit strange but please at least consider this
message. The more people that actively advocate against AI, the better.
So, IF anyone reading this has any qualms about AI and there is some
sort of consensus, please consider my proposal.
Thanks,
Jason Polak -- A long time darktable user and person who loves
photography, "human style"
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