Today’s Question: Do you think that AI will replace you in terms of providing answers to photographers, or will a human element continue to be important?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, in large part I expect that AI will be able to answer questions from photographers to the point that there will be less demand for me to answer questions. In the meantime, however, I’ve found that an increasing number of photographers are seeking additional assistance from me after AI chatbots contributed to problems in their workflow.
More Detail: AI chatbots have improved dramatically in recent months, to the point that they’re able to provide in-depth answers to complex questions. For photographers that can include getting answers related to photography, workflow, and more.
As I celebrate 25 years of answers questions from photographers through my Ask Tim Grey newsletter, the notion of AI making me obsolete is certainly top of mind. To some extent I think it is probably inevitable that photographers will increasingly seek answers from AI chatbots and have less of a need to seek answers from me.
However, there are two things that make me worry less about AI making me obsolete.
The first is that while AI generates answers based on a tremendous library of information, it still lacks the element of human perspective. I believe there is still value in having a real person with real-world experience and expertise. In other words, AI will surely reduce the demand for my answers but won’t eliminate that demand altogether.
Second, at least for the short term I’m finding that AI is contributing to photographers needing more help from me rather than less. When I provide one-on-one online consultations to photographers, it has become increasingly common for the photographer to report that they tried to solve their problem with the help of an AI chatbot, only to have that lead to additional and sometimes bigger problems.
I remain rather ambivalent about the impact of AI. In many respects AI will prove tremendously helpful in a variety of ways. But AI will also very likely be disruptive in very transformative ways, some of which have the potential to be very problematic.
In many respects, AI has the potential to be disruptive in troubling ways. But my hope is that it will be like other technological innovations over the years that were disruptive but that we managed to transition through without too much difficulty. In other words, AI may negatively impact some aspects of my work, but I’m confident I’ll be able to adapt to the changes brought on by these developments.
