paralel between digital photography and using llm’s
i happened to be editing scans of my last roll of film on my phone while i was taking a boring introduction into github copilot today. then a realization hit me: writing a piece of computer code or editing some text yourself vs using an llm like chatgpt is quite similar in comparison as making an analog picture vs making a digital one.
it is much easier to make a digital picture. and if millions of people make thousands upon thousands of picture with their phones each, there will surely be some great ones among them. but that won’t get you around the fact that it takes patience, time, effort and sometimes expensive equipement to make a great picture on purpose.
in fact, i would argue that it is easier for an amateur photographer to make a great picture on film than using a digital camera. mostly for one simple reason: the limitations of that setup - the exact same things that make digital photography attractive - force you to slow down and think. to be creative. how is one supposed to improve when there is no effort involved and no cost associated with mistakes?
just as digital photography opened the options for many people to do something they could not efficiently do before, llm’s will open doors for many people to do new things. but just as photographers didn’t disappear, the experts in their respective fields will also stick around.
i agree with you. once you got the basics down you will always be more productive with digital. that is if the pictures are what you are after rather than the process of making them - because search for beauty and relax are worthy goals on their own.
one problem is that it is actually harder to learn if pushing the button is all you do… but that’s not necessarily the issue of digital vs. analog…
Word!
I’m glad I learned the basics on film. I very much enjoy the convenience of digital, but I think that if I had started there I’d still be struggling to cut a reliance on that convenience. There was a lot of pleasure in using a fully manual camera that I would have missed as well.
My first was an old Pentax, with just one lens for months. Trying to get a good shot, fiddling with light and aperture and fstop was frustrating because of the delay in results, but it was rewarding when it paid off.