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Paul Jenkin's avatar

As Margaret Warren alluded, I agree that we should not have to opt out. Those wanting to scrape our images should have to request usage - and either pay for a licence or get some explicit written authorisation, based on intended usage. If a travel company "steals" and uses our photos, we can tell them to cease and desist. What's the difference?

Also, as a long-term amateur photographer, I'm interested in "Foto". I used to have an IG account (deleted last November) and I currently have a VERO account. I find VERO much better than IG but the "photography" pools are shared with images created, in whole or in part, by AI. I'm not anti-AI but I want to be part of a social media platform which has a photography pool which specifically excludes imagery which is really digital art as they include significant "generative" elements.

I'm not sure any platform can filter out digital art 100% automatically. I use post-processing software which allows me to clone out dust spots, delete minor distractions (e.g. a bright leaf / intrusive twig / branch at the edge of a frame - rather than deleting / inserting people, etc, into the scene) and noise reduction, using AI. For me, these are AI functions which don't affect the legitimacy / integrity of the photograph.

I have no problem with digital art and I'd 100% support such work having it's own pool / feed - subject to the artists placing their art into the correct pool and not trying to pass it off as "photography", even where the original might have started off as a photograph.

It's a really tricky area and an interesting debate. However, I'm at the point now where I'd rather delete all the photos I've ever placed onto social media platforms than continue to post my content into social media sites which either can't or won't accept that photography is light photons hitting a photo-sensitive material and AI / generative and digital art are something entirely separate.

I'd be very interested to hear how Foto views this situation.

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Karl's avatar

Super interesting discussion,.some great insights in technology and the development of Foto. Thanks

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Michael Howard's avatar

Thanks for listening Karl!

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Margaret Warren's avatar

Thanks again Michael for the great conversation!

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Michael Howard's avatar

Always great to chat with you!

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