I'm not familiar with Australian humor. But the Australians seem to be serious. They have actually created an offshoot called "plAIboy" and released the first issue in October 2024. It's a magazine without real photos. All photos of all models were AI-generated, even though the cover model Gina Stewart is a real person.
I found it very confusing that even for a real personality, only AI-generated images are shown.
plAIboy Magazine
One might give the publisher credit for simply wanting to be the first in the market to usher in the future. This generates attention, and so even I — a mere 15,000 kilometers away — am reporting on it.
One thing that can't be denied: The Australians are razor-sharp in capturing the zeitgeist! I deal a lot with interpersonal matters and follow developments in society, especially on social media. The fact that people are increasingly escaping into a smartphone world and hiding from each other seems obvious to me.
In short: We are becoming more and more alienated from each other. An increasing distancing between people is noticeable. Critically viewed, I would say that our societies are sick and not in a good state. I can observe this, for example, when I board a plane and see how addicted the majority of passengers are to their smartphones.
It also can't be healthy when couples sit opposite each other in a café but don't communicate with each other because everyone is busy with their phone. And I also see more and more people who have their gaze lowered to their lap where their smartphone lies while driving.
I don't know where this addiction and escape comes from. I suspect that people are simply all very unhappy. The complexity of the world has overwhelmed them, and so they simply follow the mainstream. The phone is seen as respectable, the addiction to it accepted.
What does all this have to do with AI-generated photos?
It was possible to create 3D-generated figures more than 30 years ago. See, for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger as a half-robot in Terminator 2. But only now has it become easier to create realistic-looking images of people.
The first issue of plAIboy still looks obviously fake (laugh-able like a friend of mine said). We shouldn't kid ourselves as this is just the beginning. AI-generated images can often still be recognized in 2024 by the fact that they are simply too perfect. But when AI has learned to incorporate flaws, for example in lighting, and subtly creates skin imperfections, then we as humans can no longer tell the difference.
Do we have to do everything just because it's technically possible? Where is the morality?
Everyone has to answer that for themselves. It's actually the same as with cosmetic surgery and retouching.
I also wore braces as a child to straighten my teeth. And in my photos, I retouch away every mole, a silly quirk of mine, but it works and makes pictures appear purer.
So where do we draw the line? And why do these AI photos bother me at all?
I think it's exactly the dehumanization that I'm afraid of.
With AI-generated photos, two people are simply eliminated from the equation, and the viewer is, in a way, being fooled. At least that's how I feel about it today.
Personally, I feel a bit like the artists in the Art Nouveau era, who deliberately designed unnecessary and exaggerated decorations on railings and window frames, simply to celebrate and appreciate the craft of art.
Am I being too picky? What do you think about it?