AI discussion: The end of photography as we know it

[DSB]

I don't know where to post this, but considering everything that's happening with AI, I think it's pretty obvious there will be huge market issues in the next few years.

AI is replacing more and more standard photographers.
Stock image industry is practically dead.
Business headshots are now generated in ChatGPT.
Product photography is being obliterated by AI.
Fashion catalog photography is dying, being more and more replaced by AI.

These are massive chunks of photography market that are either already seriously feeling the AI squeeze or are about to collapse entirely.

What's going to happen to the camera market when the user base drops by 30%? Or 50%? Or maybe 70%?

Who is going to buy gear? And what's that gear going to look like? Why would you buy a 50mm f1.2 lens, when you can just take a selfie with a phone and get endless amount of "beautiful" AI generated professionally looking headshots. Why would you get a set of studio flashlights, with softboxes and modifiers and then spend a day shooting a wine bottle, when you can just drop a few smartphone photos into some online AI service and get hundreds of different sets of pro-level product shots?

I know some will say "yes, but the wedding / event / photojournalism photography is safe".

But is it?

If you're a wedding photographer, guess what all of these other photographers who just lost their jobs to AI might start doing? Many will say "ok, I'm going to do wedding photography too! I already have the gear, so why not!" And then it'll be race to the bottom... Because it won't really matter that you have any skill or any expensive gear to shoot a wedding. It will all end up being processed by AI in any style the clients want.

Finally, the kids nowdays are being brainwashed with AI slop. Where are the new enthusiasts going to come from in 10 years? You know, who's going to be that kid that bought an SLR and 1 lens in highschool, loved it and then ended up getting a second lens and then a new body and new lenses and then upgraded to a semi-professional model and then 15 years later is doing photography for a living?

Are we witnessing the end of photography as we know it? The more I look at what's happening and how fast it's happening, the more I'm convinced it's all already over.

 

[ThomasTH]

I also think that certain types of photography will become obsolete, like product photography as you mentioned it. Professional photographers will have a hard time I think.

Overall I don't think that so much will change. People are using their phones already as a replacement of camera. Then there still will be some hobbyists like me, that wants to take photos. Maybe the market will shrink overall a bit, but not completely. But who knows.

I also think that analogue film photography will be an even bigger trend, as a counterbalance to AI. Similar to how vinyl experienced a revival when MP3s and streaming came along.

But who knows what really will happen. Everything is changing very fast at the moment.

 

[EricN]

It's only capable of making producing pastiche like things. @AlanF is satisfied with AI's ability to solve calculations, but this is different from producing something creatively. Someone with low expectations may be satisfied that it can produce generic ideas, but unless the programmers learn to give AI something like a soul, I am confident that eventually products made primarily with AI will be thought of in a way similar as Kitsch.

 

[AlanF]

It's only capable of making producing pastiche like things. @AlanF is satisfied with AI's ability to solve calculations, but this is different from producing something creatively. Someone with low expectations may be satisfied that it can produce generic ideas, but unless the programmers learn to give AI something like a soul, I am confident that eventually products made primarily with AI will be thought of in a way similar as Kitsch.

I've just been invited to speak at two conferences on AI and consciousness, and am chickening out!

 

[EricN]

I've just been invited to speak at two conferences on AI and consciousness, and am chickening out!

Really? Don't chicken out!

 

[Aldherrian]

I'm not invested in pro photography so I may have a bias on this but for the average consumer, I don't see AI having a (negative) impact on sales.
AI is promoted by software makers to allow deep modifications on the photo, which are in use for a long time now on smartphones camera but I don't see the general public getting discouraged to shoot their surroundings everyday or in travel and special moments.

I would not be surprised if there is in turn a trend in the opposite side. Products marketed with AI photos will quickly be labelled as cheap the same way a lot of ads are dismissed for their AI use.

The shrinking business opportunities is a real threat though but how much would that realistically impact camera makers ?
Aren't they more profitting from wealthy consumers than actual pros ?

 

[P-visie]

Current AI models are trained on images and photo’s. Crudely stated: the are recyling what has been created before. A research study shows that two models resort back to the same 12 photo styles.

See: https://petapixel.com/2025/12/23/ai...-styles-study-calls-it-visual-elevator-music/

Yes, AI impacts the industry as in the examples you mentioned, but photography will survive: to capture events and memories, as a hobby and as an expression of creativity that the current AI models cannot achieve.

And simply because AI needs new photographs to create the 13th, 14th etc. style .

There are multiple precedents, e.g. painting has survived as a form of art when photography was “invented”.