I don't want to sound like a DJI apologist, but when a corner of the internet laid into the camera company for an AI-generated ad for its 'Mic Mini', I wondered if it might be quite such a terrible thing?
Don't get me wrong. It's unsettling enough to think that the creative industry I love is at risk of being replaced by AI, and when a company that is meant to support creatives (or, at least, provide products for creatives) gets in on the act, that is more of a worry.
I fully understand why podcasters took the opportunity to jump up and down on the incident and create as much controversy as possible, and it certainly can't have done creators any harm in the short term.
At the same time, though, if we're absolutely honest, posting an AI-generated (so not real) TikTok person showing the DJI Mic is probably not the most serious of crimes.
It definitely sounds more worrying for us all that it was a so-called "dark post" – there is just something about that phrase. In truth, that only means it was a paid ad, so delivered to targeted users (people that fitted target demographics), rather than appearing on DJI's own feed.
Sure, that means it's harder to find after the fact, but Jakob Owens / @buffnerdsmedia managed to record it and share it.
In terms of openness, it was clearly labelled 'AI-generated', so it certainly wasn't 'dark' in that sense.
Perhaps a more serious worry for the future is that – had it been without a label – no one might have spotted it at all.
But there are two positives I can see.
First, the backlash that resulted in the commercial being promptly deleted by the camera firm will undoubtedly keep humans in work for a little longer, and, as a human, I do feel the need to keep back the rise of the machines (and not just because Terminator 2 was the better movie).
Secondly, well, as a consumer, if DJI want to avoid paying an influencer a pile of money for a video, I'm not actually as upset as all that.
I don't especially love photographers and videographers losing out on paid work, but when the shot is a camera (or a phone) in a fixed position and someone talking to it, I'm uncertain just how much creativity would have been involved had it not been AI-generated.
When I'm buying cameras, there are two kinds of content I want to be able to access. One is impartial reviews, ideally from a traditional source.
I'm not just saying that because I write reviews (and participate in some video ones). It is because it's important to me to learn about a device from testers who are entirely outside the company's budget. Call me old-fashioned, but if they're sponsored by the company, they're not really reviews so they're not guidance.
On the other hand, when it comes to usability, I'm perfectly happy for the company to show me how to use a device.
Videos that show features, settings and reveal functions are uesful and, to be honest, if that can be generated by A.I. I don't find that upsetting at all.
In fact, given that influencers can ask for surprisingly large amounts that I'd prefer a company spend on R&D for the next exciting product, I don't really mind A.I. for that specific scenario at all.
But that's just me.
You can see some of our impartial ratings of DJI products in the best action cameras and best camera drones guides.
