Capturing reality or creating illusions? The convergence of artificial intelligence and photography

The history of photography is a story of innovation driven by the pursuit of simplicity and ease. George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, captured this spirit with his 1888 advertising slogan, “You press the button, we do the rest.” The modern iPhone epitomises the industry's efforts to enable anyone to capture images without grappling with intricate mechanics of the medium. The democratisation of photography has made it an ubiquitous feature of our lives; however, we must contemplate whether the quest for simplicity has strayed so far that what we create can no longer be called photographs.