Using Artificial Intelligence to Edit and Create Stunning Photos

Greetings! Welcome back to “On Tech: AI,” a guide that teaches you about artificial intelligence, how it works and how to use it.

In our previous post, we shared some helpful tips for getting the most out of chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard. Now that you know the importance of being specific and providing detailed advice, let’s move on to the next area.

While much of the fear and apprehension surrounding AI has been related to text-based systems, there have also been significant developments in imaging systems. These share some similarities with text-based AIs, but they can also be quite unusual and offer exciting creative possibilities.

Image generators have been trained on billions of images, allowing them to create entirely new designs that were once the exclusive domain of artists and designers. Experts sometimes even have difficulty distinguishing between images AI has generated and real images, which has inspired both negative campaigns and intriguing creations. These tools are already changing the way design professionals work.

AI graphics tools are not as well-developed as systems like ChatGPT, and they require a bit more effort and money to use. But there’s never been a better time to start learning.

AI Photoshop

Adobe recently added an AI feature called “generative fill” to the beta version of Photoshop, its photo editing software, and creators on social networks like TikTok and Instagram have been raving about it ever since.

Despite my considerable experience with Photoshop, I was impressed by how quickly and efficiently generative fill performed tasks that would have taken me an hour to complete. I was able to remove elements, add items, and swap backgrounds in under five minutes with just a few clicks.

(To try these tools out for yourself, start by signing up for a free trial of Adobe Creative Suite. You can then install the latest beta version of Adobe Photoshop which includes this feature.)

Once you have access to the beta version of Photoshop, try some of these tricks:

• Changing the background– Click the “select item” icon (an arrow pointing at a box), then under the Select menu, click “adjust” to choose a background. Click on the “generative fill” box to quickly fill it in, or leave it blank and let Photoshop suggest a new background concept.

  I used this to edit a photo of my corgi, Max. I typed “kennel” to prompt it, and clicked “create” to change the background.

At The New York Times, image editors do not manipulate or create images using artificial intelligence. But when I first tried generative fill, my initial thought was that graphic designers in advertising and other fields may soon become a thing of the past. When I shared this idea with Adobe’s chief technology officer, Ely Greenfield, he said that it certainly makes image editing easier, but he was optimistic that people would still need design professionals.

“I can create really beautiful images with it, but to be honest, I still create really bad pictures,” he said. “When I look at what artists come up with when they get their hands on these tools compared to what I make, their work is far more interesting because they know how to tell a story.”

I must admit that my experience with generative fill hasn’t been as interesting as what others have shared on social media. Lorenzo Green, who writes about AI, posted a collage of famous album covers, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Adele’s “21,” that were enhanced using generative fill. The results were fascinating.

(One tip: If you find Photoshop challenging, a quick way to try Adobe’s AI is to visit the Adobe Firefly website. From there, you can open the generative fill tool, upload an image, and click the “add” tool to search for something

Author: OpenAI