Imagine needing professional photos for your website, but having only $30 and a few hours to spare. AI-generated photos might be your answer. But is it really?
Today we will explore the pros and cons of using AI-generated photos vs hiring a photographer and if people can spot an AI photo. This is specific to people, versus food or products.
Pros of AI Photography in Marketing
- Budget is always top of mind for small businesses and AI photo generation can be significantly cheaper than hiring a photographer, especially for ongoing needs.
- Generating AI photos takes a few hours, if not minutes – not days like a traditional photographer can. This is great for quick turnaround campaigns or social media content.
The Uncanny Valley & Other AI Photography Pitfalls
- One of the biggest cons is the “Uncanny Valley”. AI photography can sometimes look “off”, which can be unsettling and off-putting. It is also important to review every AI-generated image for errors – for example: fingers, fingernails, and jewelry can all turn out wonky.
- Another concern is misrepresentation. Could AI-generated images create unrealistic beauty standards or contribute to biases? I believe that yes, this could be the case. The generated images tend to look like overly filtered social media-style images.
- Depending on what generator you use, you may not get the results you’re expecting – do they have the clothes you want, the backgrounds to fit your area, did they get the body right, etc. And I found it less customizable. If I wanted non-headshot style shots, I had to reach out to customer service and make a special request – there was no notes field when I submitted my original request.
- And another big con… Who owns the copyright? You’ll also want to read the terms and conditions of the generator you use, as some do not allow for commercial use.
AI Photography vs. Real Photography
I decided to do a test and had photos of myself AI-generated via proshoot.co. They had an affordable option of 20 photos for $29 with a money-back guarantee (we’ll talk more on that later). I also scheduled a photoshoot with a local photographer, David Brueckner. The afternoon photoshoot took place in a local coffee shop and bakery that we both frequent, as well as our town park, and cost me $300 for an hour and a half.
My Proshoot.co review starts with the ease of the process. I uploaded about 20 selfies and answered a few questions – the only one I remember answering is my gender, but I know there were more! The first round of images took two hours to render. After receiving my “studio” link via email, I clicked through, and although a lot of the photos were pretty realistic and did look like me, they were mostly unusable. Why? The clothing.
The clothes were nothing that I would wear, were extremely corporate and boring – nothing like me or my brand. In addition, some of the backgrounds included a large cityscape with skyscrapers, which does not mesh with my small town.
I reached out to Proshoot about their money-back guarantee, and they responded that because a few of the photos I uploaded didn’t match their guidelines, I wasn’t technically eligible for a refund. I did remember seeing something about that when uploading images, so although I wasn’t completely blindsided, I felt it was vague enough that they could easily say one photo doesn’t fit and not have to ever give a refund.
However, in their response, they said they deleted the uploaded photos that didn’t fit guidelines and said they would generate new images. They also asked me for more specifics on what I would like to see for clothing and I also told them there could be no large cities in the background. This took place on Saturday. On Monday I received my new batch of photos.
These were more in line with trendier clothing, though still not “me”. Some were too casual or too revealing for “business casual”. I also noticed my nose ring was distorted in most of the photos, the fingernails were really bad in a couple, and the body is not my body type – I’m broader and more muscular… these photos are not that. Overall, they did provide what I requested so I said I no longer required the refund.
Proshoot again responded asking what would make the photos better… I responded. It’s been three weeks and I haven’t heard back, nor have I received a refund.
Now onto hiring the local photographer. I reached out to David via Instagram and it took us about a day to schedule a shoot – which turned out to only be 5 days away. I then got to work planning the outfits and props I wanted for my brand photoshoot – laptop, planner, phone. We determined the locations we would meet and I sent him some examples of the photo styles I was looking for. He sent me a few pose ideas and was very open to more ideas.
We met up on a Wednesday afternoon, which was supposed to be cloudy, but instead was quite sunny, and got straight to shooting. It was easy to capture the picture exactly as I wanted it to be. Proshoot mostly offered headshot style photos, but with David I could get more “active” shots – me working on my computer, me on my phone, looking at the camera, writing in my planner, etc.
It took David one week to send me over 200 photos. There is no denying that the photographs are me, and they capture my work environment and small-town life perfectly. I am my brand and they were right on point. One area of the bakery we shot in was not working with the lighting that day, and David did offer to meet up again to reshoot. I considered it because that was the spot I wore the outfit that really represented me most, but overall, I was happy with the photos, and had plenty to work with.
The Social Media Experiment: AI vs. Real Photos
Now onto the blind test. I posted 3 photos (1 AI, 2 real) and asked people which one I should use as a business profile photo – not mentioning AI at all. I was interested to see if a) people would call me out on it, and b) recognize something “off” with the AI photo.
The pictures were posted to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, where I have a variety of friends, family, and acquaintances… and nobody called me out on the AI. I got a mix of responses, but the ones that chose the AI photo told me I was “glowing” or they chose it because of the dress. Not one person commented that the image didn’t look like me and no one recognized that it was AI-generated.
After a few hours, I commented that it was an experiment and said that one of the photos was AI-generated… and people came back and could guess the correct one. Once they knew it was AI they said things like it was too warm or something was just slightly “off”, but overall people were impressed with the photo.
The Future of AI in Marketing
So what does this mean for using AI photos in your marketing materials? Although it is new, cool, and relatively inexpensive to generate AI images, the process still has glitches and imperfections. However, AI may be an option if you’re in a pickle and need a photo and don’t have time or resources to schedule a photographer.
The future likely lies in a combination of AI and human creativity. Photographers can use AI tools to enhance their work, and marketers can use AI to generate visuals for specific needs. AI is rapidly improving and changing, so the results I received this time could potentially be greatly improved a year from now.
One other note: It is also important to be transparent with audiences about the use of AI-generated images. Advertising platforms are even adding checkboxes that you have to click if you are using AI-generated content in your ads.