It may be art, but it is not photography

AI images were exhibited at Paris Photo. The series, Genesis, consists of distorted and blurred black-and-white portraits.

 Solienne, Portrait – 2025, Automata. Courtesy of the artist and Automata

The “artist” is an AI agent named Solienne. The human behind it, Kristi Coronado, presents herself as merely Solienne’s trainer. In an interview with The Observer, Coronado said: “People consider A.I. a tool, just like they did when cameras first came out.”

AI is a tool, just like a camera, but that doesn’t make its output photography.

The comparison to early photography misses something essential: if AI images are “photography,” then photography must also be “painting.”

Photography is a process of visually recording light. These works are digital simulations of photography, and should be regarded as such.

AI Art, Yoav Ruda. 2024

Read the full article 'Photography’s Past and Future Hung in Tense Harmony at Paris Photo' by Henry Roberts here.

My book, the Soul in the Machine, which deals with the issue is available here.