The influence of Artificial Intelligence on art and other creative forms has become more widespread than we realize. With AI programs like Midjourney putting out impressive finished products, it is increasingly hard to distinguish the difference between AI work and human work. The story about “photographer” Joe Avery is a perfect example.
Back in October, Avery started a “photography” profile on Instagram. He showcased his stunning black-and-white portraits featuring a series of intriguing subjects. His works quickly became popular, earning him more than 10K followers. It was after this that Avery decided to come clean about the true nature of the photographs he posts on the profile.
In January, Avery reached out to the tech-focused website Ars Technica via mail and told them that his works are actually generated by AI. Both the photos and the models were not real.
“[My Instagram account] has blown up to nearly 12K followers since October, more than I expected,” Avery told Ars Technica at the time. “Because it is where I post AI-generated, human-finished portraits. Probably 95%+ of the followers don’t realize. I’d like to come clean.”
Avery explained that he initially wanted to “fool people” and then write an article about it. However, the Instagram page became an “artistic outlet” for him, and he started enjoying the project. He adds that while the AI does the majority of the work, he still has to put a great amount of effort into the photos, picking out the best one and then editing it using Photoshop and other software.
“It takes an enormous amount of effort to take AI-generated elements and create something that looks like it was taken by a human photographer,” he shared with the outlet. “The creative process is still very much in the hands of the artist or photographer, not the computer.”
After coming clean, Avery continued to update his profile with more portraits. However, he now clearly states that they are done with AI. It turned out that people still enjoyed these works as the number of his followers continued to grow.
