Midjourney V6 vs Photograghy

Greetings friends. I understand there is a little unease with AI models in the photography and art spaces. If you've seen previous posts you will see that I am a videographer/photographer by trade.

However I also really enjoy playing around with the latest tech. I believe that however you currently feel, these tools are here to stay, and rather than demonizing them, I choose to use and play with them.

The most recent release of Midjourney v6 is absolutely blowing me away. These are getting awfully close to realistic and I just wanted to share some photos for those who may be so against AI that they are unaware of how far the tools have come (and will only get better)

So think of this post more as a show-and- tell.

For reference I will lead with a photo of myself vs an AI image I created using that very same "real" photo.

This image uses the image above as a base layer and then I added a prompt. The results are absolutely wild
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The following are the top 10 of the most realistic images I have ever created again using Midjourney's newest version 6

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I mean come on 👀 bsprouts_close-up_intensity_in_the_style_of_luminous_shadows__60f5f739-7d82-4a80-9f0b-1e90ffbaa661_0.png

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I like to caption these "Models replacing Models"
A play on words with "generative AI Models" replacing "real-world models"

I feel these images could be used for like fragrance ads or something
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The eyes are very impressive
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I mean... speaking of eyes
And check out the pores on the skin

It is hard to make a case against young men (once we are able to take these AI images and turn them into avatars) not falling in love with these characters

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bsprouts_close-up_intensity_red_head_with_deep_ocean_blue_eye_f3b4d452-ebb9-436f-9582-323d2f94b73b_2.png

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This image could be a still frame straight from a war movie

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I don't see any clear giveaways that this image was created with AI
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I can only imagine the explosion of images and videos this next era will bring when these quality (and better) images can be created with a few simple clicks.

I am curious how we as a society are going to respond/react/control deep fake photos and videos. I feel blockchains will play an important role along with decentralized ID's. We are going to have to start to pivot to systems that allow people to verify who made what content- or else we are screwed.

As much as I hate how cliche it sounds. This next decade is going to be absolutely insane.

Would love to have open discussion and dialogue in the comments below regarding the topic.

Happy Holiday friends.

Much Love

Andrew