How will AI shake up the future of imaging? Come to the P&E Show to hear what camera equipment manufacturers have to say

The four-day China International Photographic Equipment and Technology Expo (China P&E) was officially held in Beijing on May 12! This year's P&E exhibition continues to promote the theme of "images are everywhere", bringing together well-known domestic and foreign image brands, equipment manufacturers, and photography enthusiasts.

"AI image generation technology" is a hot topic. Through AI image generation software, users can quickly transform their ideas into visual images by simply entering keywords. With the development of AI mapping software, there are more and more discussions on social media about hot topics such as "Will AI replace photographers?" We went to the P&E exhibition and had the opportunity to chat with several imaging equipment manufacturers about "How do you view AI image generation technology?", "Will AI image generation technology have an impact on product sales?" and other issues.

李凯宇

Deputy General Manager of Canon (China) Imaging Information Product Marketing Department

The development of AI technology is changing with each passing day. We always believe that from a technical level, AI technology must be used more and more frequently. At the same time, as an emerging thing in the industry, it will definitely have an impact on industry practitioners. For example, it can already take on part of the work of photographers, which is also an inevitable trend in technological development. The prosperous development of technology also requires strict regulations to limit it. But the current situation is that at the legal level, this technology is currently related to "How to define the responsibilities of each party in intellectual property rights?" "How to protect photographers, subjects, etc. The rights and interests of relevant entities?" There are currently no unified laws and regulations or authoritative industry guidelines at home and abroad as a reference. There is also a debate on "how to use it in a moral way" on a moral level.

Our country has always attached great importance to the development of AI technology, and Canon has always maintained an inclusive and prudent stance on this. We expect that laws and regulations on AI will gradually be established and completed in the near future. Canon will definitely actively research and discuss it at that time. What Canon can do will benefit our photographers and expand Canon's market.

Prince Dragon

Technical Manager of Aozhixin Marketing Planning Department

First of all, your definition of this AI generation technology is particularly good, because it is not photography, AI now generates paintings, so it will not have much impact on our camera and photography manufacturers. "What is photography? What is painting? Painting is creating art on a blank sheet of paper where one can unleash their imagination and ideas.". Photography is based on real life, while painting can look like a photo, but it is definitely not photography.

Whether it will have an impact on manufacturers depends on whether it will replace the value of camera photography: the value of photography, first of all, is the value of aesthetics. Second, it has immediate value. Third, it has emotional value. The value of aesthetics, there is no doubt that AI is more beautiful because it can be as imaginative as possible. But AI has no real-time value, because it cannot hold a camera to take pictures of news events of this kind. The third value is called the value of emotional expression. The prerequisite for expression is your photographic self-awareness, which AI does not have.

Therefore, I think it will not have an impact, but will stimulate people, just like after the emergence of Daguerre's practical photography in 1839, a group of painters shouted that painting would be replaced by photography. The results of it! Painting has moved towards a more diverse era, and so has photography!

Liu Yilun

General Manager of Bainuo Imaging

In the future, all walks of life will be affected by the development of AI technology, especially the imaging industry in which we are located. For the industry as a whole, the application of AI technology can certainly save a lot of manpower, because many post-processing tasks related to images have been “removed”. It is also beneficial for the photographers themselves. The difficulty of the post-shooting process may be greater than the shooting process itself, because the software that needs to be applied in the post-production process has a complicated learning process. The application of AI technology can just save these processes.

Just like the application of AI technology in software and the development of AI image generation technology, Benro, as a camera accessory manufacturer, has worked hard to make many technical upgrades on our own products, and is also committed to bringing more convenience to creators. For example, saving working time and improving outdoor shooting efficiency are all unstoppable trends in future technological development.

In the future, images will definitely always exist, and the way they are expressed will become more and more diversified. While AI helps us innovate expressions, we also support image expressions that can retain more originality and artistry without being mixed with too much intelligence. We are also very surprised to see that various equipment are constantly being upgraded, including the emergence of 360-degree panoramic photography, and VR and AR glasses are also being continuously upgraded. It can be said that these fields are the future of imaging. Therefore, Benro has been waiting to see the technological development of AI technology and physical imaging equipment. We will continue to pay attention to the development of imaging master skills in the future, which may serve as a reference direction for Yongnuo’s research and design.

We cannot deny that technologies such as AI image generation have an impact on sales. In the process of transition from traditional photography to non-traditional photography, whenever a new shooting technology comes out, such as the aforementioned panoramic shooting or holographic photography involving "space", "pioneers" will appear in the industry and Actively use these devices to experiment and create. However, what we still doubt is: Will more photographers really start to try and create in these fields in the future? Will panoramic photography, VR, and AR become a new development trend in the photography industry?

Ah Hao

Yongnuo Marketing Department

We are optimistic about sales volume. As for replacing photographers, we believe that it would be biased to say "complete replacement". AI certainly cannot replace photographers. The difference between it and human photographers may lie in the degree of commercialization. Photographers have always cherished their love for photography, and are filled with different creative ideas when creating. Everyone creates freely. What they shoot is the real and beautiful things that their eyes see, and then they can express themselves without being restricted, and get The photos are still based on their own creative control, while the AI ​​image generation technology is just a cold program set manually.

In the AI ​​era where “everything is a medium”, AI-generated images, NFT digital works, XR photography... the forms of images are becoming more and more diverse. We look forward to seeing more intelligent and complete photographic equipment in the future. Thank you to all major manufacturers for accepting our interview. We will witness the future development of imaging together!

Interview: Cao Ying

Written by Sun Yizhi

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