Has the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26 and its siblings reignited the debate over the "death of truth" in photography?
Computational photography has been the standard for well over a decade, but the S26’s new suite of features joins other phone manufacturers in shifting the needle uncomfortably towards artificial photography, where the phone essentially "imagines" details that were never there.
It all begins with the new ProScaler feature that predicts detail rather than capturing it. We’re all guilty of using software to edit our photos and introduce detail, but we’ve always got the original photo, and we can make informed and, at times, moral decisions about the changes we’re making.
Article continues belowProScaler is different from this because it not only takes the human out of the decision but also uses AI to deliver you the image that it thinks you want. Take the example of zooming 100x on a building. The sensor might only be able to see a grey smudge, but ProScaler can recognize the object as bricks. It then proceeds to overlay a high-resolution brick texture, but with no guarantees that it is identical to what was present in reality.
Are we taking photos anymore or just capturing a prompt image for AI to then do its work? That’s an interesting thought that I don’t think many people are considering. It might only be small changes to photos at the moment, but it may well become so ubiquitous that the very idea of photo capture becomes redefined.
AI interference continues with the AI ISP feature. This real-time reality correction tool is applied at the level of the image signal processor and applies generative tweaks the moment you press the shutter. This means the processor is moving beyond mere brightness adjustments towards the modification of skin tones, smoothing of textures, and even altering light sources in real-time – all in an attempt to make a “perfect” image.
Is anyone else feeling uncomfortable? By adjusting photos at the point of capture, Samsung is moving dangerously close to assuming the position of truth teller in our lives. I don’t like the idea of it prioritizing aesthetic appeal over factual accuracy or messing with my images before I even see them. It’s one thing for a photo editor to edit a photo; it’s another thing altogether to hand that process over to AI, especially if you don't even have access to the 'original'.
Thankfully, at this moment in time, bypassing these features is as simple as switching to either Pro Mode or Expert RAW. Doing this means the phone will bypass the heavy AI ISP pipeline and ProScaler upscaling, giving you a raw data file (DNG) that represents what the sensor actually saw. It’s not as convenient as snapping simple images, but as far as I’m aware, it’s the only way to kill it off.
For now, truth-seeking photographers might just about have a handle on controlling the output that comes from their smartphones, but for how long? What if we use a phone to capture an image that doesn’t align with the values of the company that manufactured it? Are they going to start stepping in then?
Whatever the future holds, I’ll be trying to find ways to minimize AI interference. Call me a dinosaur, but I think the capturing of truth isn’t something we should easily let go of.
You may also like
Browse the best photo editing software or the best computer mouse for photo editing.
