I’m over AI images. Done. The internet is drowning in them and they’re not just annoying; they’re a slap in the face to real photographers.
Yes, the tech is astonishingly clever. But to what end, exactly? If my social media feed is anything to go by, the hours of skill, timing and craft that go into real photography is currently being buried under a deluge of algorithmic slop that looks like a Nineties stock photo library had an oversaturated fever dream.
Photography is about authenticity; capturing fleeting, imperfect moments. AI is the opposite: instant, soulless fakery. When your search results are packed with fake sunsets and impossible fashion shots, how can anyone tell what’s real? For professionals, that’s lethal.
Search “wedding photography” on sites like Instagram and these days you’re hit with AI brides who don’t blink, and grooms with smiles straight out of a toothpaste commercial. What's terrifying is that people will start thinking this is what “good” photography looks like.
Many photographers have told me (anonymously) of clients waving AI “references” at them like they’re gospel, and expecting them to reproduce the results in real life. Others simply aren't getting bookings because, well, AI imagery is more or less free. So how can we fight back? Well, here's one initiative you might want to support.
Back the Duck
For decades, it's never occurred to most of us that there's an alternative to searching on Google. There are, however, plenty – and one of the most popular is DuckDuckGo.
Recently, DuckDuckGo announced that it now enables you to filter out AI images. Hidden in the 'AI images' dropdown is the magical option, 'Hide AI images'. Click it and suddenly you’re looking at real, flawed, beautiful photos again.
It’s not perfect – some AI junk slips through – but it’s a huge improvement. Unlike Google, which seems determined to shove AI down our throats, DuckDuckGo treats it as optional. You get to decide how much you want to see.
Yes, switching search engines might feel like only a tiny protest. But it's a real, practical action you can take to say no to the endless AI sludge.
AI isn’t going away, but with DuckDuckGo we can at least carve out one corner of the internet where reality still exists. And personally, I’d rather scroll through a page of grainy, underexposed real images than see yet another plastic-perfect AI “masterpiece”. I'd urge you to join me.
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Read more of my thoughts in my article, I thought Chrome would always be my web browser. Now I'm thinking of changing.
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