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2026-03-03 Synthetic Photography SIG meeting notes We met online using ZOOM 6:00pm-8:45pm You are invited to join us on ZOOM for the "Synthetic Photography SIG". I expect that this will be a controversial SIG as the topic of AI generated art seems to polarize people into 2 camps, they either love the concept that now they can make beautiful art or they hate the idea that "unskilled" people can make better art than they can. I am sure that we will have different views, but I hope that we can get along and respect everyone's views. I want to expand the focus of the Synthetic Photography SIG to include other image editing tools and techniques while maintaining our main focus on AI tools and techniques. "Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and international human rights law." - Wikipedia ATTENDEES 1. We discussed RentAHuman.ai 2. We discussed Anthropic vs Pentagon 3. Jack Lipscomb compared the various AI models used in Photoshop. It looks like the new version of Firefly inside of Photoshop doesn't use images for input. 4. Mike showed some examples of how he is using AI to generate backgrounds for portraits. 5. We discussed the video "How much power does AI actually use? Energy Demand in AI" - 12:25 - by Caleb Writes Code (5 months ago) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN7c5S9k5L0 6. We discussed the video "How much water does AI actually use? Why is Everyone So Wrong About AI Water Use??" - 23:59 - by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_c6MWk7PQc 7. We discussed teh video "My Biggest AI Fear" - 1:32:45 - by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MLbOulrLA0 This is a fascinating video about what AI will probably develop into 8. We decided that we want to see more tutorials, and AI topics more closely related to photography, but we want to continue general AI topic discussion too. 9. Rich showed us his Huion graphics tablet ($299 on amazon) for editing images in Photoshop. It works great and is considerably cheaper than Wacom products. 10. Let's create a list of AI tools that we can use in our photography, including Photoshop tools and AI tools that don't depend on Photoshop. I would like to discuss some of these tools in more depth. RESOURCES (Where you can find sources of inspiration) Why is Everyone So Wrong About AI Water Use?? - 23:59 - by Hank Green "How The Massive Power Draw Of Generative AI Is Overtaxing Our Grid” from CNBC, Jul 28, 2024 My Biggest AI Fear - 1:32:45 - by Hank Green https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_artificial_intelligence https://futurism.com/ai-energy-use https://www.allaboutai.com/resources/ai-statistics/ai-environment/ More Perfect Union Video: Documentary on Data Center impact in Tennessee Business Insider Video: Exposing The Dark Side of America’s AI Data Center Explosion More Perfect Union Video: I live 500 feet from a bitcoin mine. My life is hell Data Centers and Water Consumption Data centers are booming. But there are big energy and environmental risks These four charts sum up the state of AI and energy How Artists Are Rewriting AI’s Future | Fei-Fei Li, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst Will AI take your job in the next 10 years? Wrong question by Vinciane Beauchene Axios CTO is living your coming AI reality (AI's impact on Axios, a software company) Anthropic CEO’s Warning: AI Will Make Us Rich — Our Liberty May Be the Price https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260203-the-ai-that-quietly-edits-all-of-your-photos Why Claude Code and OpenClaw Just Triggered a Tech Stock Panic - 1:00:42 - by Dad Saves America AGENDA FOR OUR NEXT SYNTHETIC PHOTOGRAPHY SIG MEETING - Tue 4/7/2026 @6:00pm If there is anything related to AI that you would like to discuss at our SIG meeting, please email me so I can add them to our agenda. Please email Mike, info@fcdcc.com, when you find mistakes, missing information or if you have suggestions for the Synthetic Photography SIG and I will try to address the issues. Thanks, --------------------------- Meeting Summary from ZOOM ----------------------- Quick recapThe meeting focused on discussing AI technology, its energy consumption, and related concerns. Participants shared experiences with AI tools like Firefly and Stable Diffusion in Photoshop, including demonstrations of image generation and transformation capabilities. The group extensively discussed the energy requirements for training and running AI models, with specific data shared about GPT-4's energy usage during training and operation. They examined concerns about data center water usage and debated the environmental impact of AI development. The conversation also touched on regulatory challenges, with participants discussing how large AI companies might influence legislation to maintain market dominance. Throughout the discussion, participants shared personal experiences with AI tools and expressed varying levels of comfort with adopting new AI technologies. Next steps
SummaryAI Videos and Wildlife UpdatesThe group discussed various AI-related videos they had received, with Jim Limburg sharing his experience watching content from Hank Green and John Popolos, noting the latter's successful development of a financial tool using AI. Jack mentioned submitting three photos to the Gilded Goat exhibition and shared his contact information with the organizer. The conversation then shifted to local wildlife sightings, including turkeys in Mike's yard and sandhill cranes near Fort Collins, before Rich Roberts joined the call after returning from a trip to Colorado. The conversation ended with a brief discussion about rentahuman.AI, a website for providing internet-based services to AI agents. AI Ethics and Human InteractionThe group discussed AI and human interaction, including the use of humans to complete tasks for AI systems and the history of Mechanical Turk. They explored concerns about AI companions, particularly among teenagers, and discussed a recent case where Woolworths in Australia discontinued an AI phone assistant that was asking inappropriate questions. The conversation concluded with a discussion about Anthropic's decision to restrict AI use by the US military, specifically banning mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons, though participants debated the ethics of these restrictions versus the potential military advantages of AI. AI Ethics and Applications DiscussionThe group discussed concerns about AI development and autonomous weapons, particularly focusing on Anthropic's refusal to allow their AI to be used for autonomous weapons. They debated whether private companies should be allowed to make moral decisions that conflict with government requests, with Jim Limburg arguing companies should have the right to make such decisions. The conversation then shifted to practical AI applications, where Jack demonstrated different AI image generation tools in Photoshop, including Firefly and Gemini models, showing varying results in transforming a photo into winter scenes. Rich Ernst also shared his experience using Firefly to create artistic interpretations of photographs, noting differences between Firefly versions 1 and 3. AI Image Generation Energy UsageThe group discussed using AI for image generation, with Mike demonstrating how he creates pirate-themed backgrounds using Stable Diffusion. Mike shared his power usage measurements, finding that generating images consumed an additional 60-100 watts of power over 2 hours, creating approximately one image every 2.5 minutes. The discussion touched on the energy efficiency of AI models and the environmental impact of training large language models like GPT-4, which required significant energy resources. AI Energy Consumption StatisticsMike presented detailed statistics on the energy requirements for training and running GPT-4, including the massive computational resources needed and the associated electricity consumption. The group discussed how AI model training compares to existing data center usage, with Mike noting that AI currently accounts for about 8% of power used in U.S. data centers. The conversation also touched on Chinese AI models like Deep Seek, which are reported to be more energy-efficient, though with some skepticism about their claims. AI Development and Energy ConcernsThe group discussed concerns about data center energy consumption and AI development. Mike shared insights from a video about how large tech companies are trying to regulate the AI market to prevent smaller competitors from entering, while ultimately planning to shift toward more efficient specialized models. Rich expressed skepticism about exponential data center growth, arguing that historical technology trends suggest efficiency improvements will eventually reduce requirements. The discussion concluded with debate about AI timelines and whether current predictions of human extinction within 50 years are motivated by business interests rather than technical reality. AI Development and Water UsageThe group discussed the rapid pace of AI development and the challenges of keeping up with new technologies. Walt expressed a Luddite approach to new AI tools, while others shared their perspectives on the practicality of understanding AI systems versus using them effectively. The conversation touched on specific applications like self-driving cars and AI-generated weather forecasts, with examples of both successes and limitations. The discussion concluded with an introduction to concerns about AI's water usage, mentioning Sam Altman's estimate of water usage per GPT query and Morgan Stanley's projection of potential annual water usage for AI data centers by 2028. Data Center Water Usage ImpactThe group discussed water usage by data centers and AI model training, comparing it to other major water consumers like power plants and corn farming. They explored how water is recycled in data center cooling systems and debated the relative impact of AI versus agricultural water usage. Mike concluded that while AI's water usage presents a risk management challenge, it likely won't cause devastating environmental impact and may eventually lead to energy savings and reduced global warming. The discussion ended with a comparison to nuclear power plant risk assessment approaches. Nuclear Power in Data CentersThe group discussed the potential use of nuclear power in data centers, with Walter Lyons explaining how risk management approaches and small-scale nuclear reactors could make data centers more efficient and safe. The conversation then shifted to the Fukushima nuclear disaster as an example of cost prioritizing over safety protocols. At the end of the meeting, participants debated the focus of future meetings, with Jim Limburg and others suggesting a return to more photography-related content and tutorials, while Mike proposed demonstrating AI tools like Claude. Rich Ernst shared his preference for using AI tools like the content-aware fill in Photoshop to enhance his photography workflow. Photography and AI Tools DiscussionThe group discussed balancing photography-focused content with broader discussions, with Mike expressing a preference for intelligent conversations while maintaining photography as a core element. The participants explored various AI tools for photography, including Topaz, DXO, and Luminar, with Rich Ernst noting that while Topaz has superior benefits, he switched to DXO due to subscription costs. For the next meeting, the group agreed to create a list of AI and advanced Photoshop tools they want to learn about and discuss. Digital Art Tools DiscussionThe group discussed various digital art tools and equipment, focusing on tablets and styluses for photo editing. Rich Ernst recommended a YuYan tablet, which combines a screen with a tablet surface, as a more affordable alternative to Wacom tablets. The discussion covered the advantages of using tablets for specific editing tasks like dodging and burning, with Rich Ernst noting that using a mouse for these operations is much more difficult. The conversation also touched on the potential of using iPad technology with desktop computers, though this was noted to be less common due to the preference for larger desktop screens and the cost of replacing iPad styluses. Pen Display and Art EventsThe group discussed a pen display device, with Rich Ernst sharing details about his experience with a $224 13-inch model that connects via HDMI and USB-C. The discussion covered technical specifications including the ability to connect to both desktop and big screens, though Rich noted issues with color calibration when switching between monitor and tablet displays. The conversation then shifted to upcoming events, including the Art Fort Collins Old Town Art Walk where several members have artwork displayed, particularly at the Gilded Goat restaurant. The group also discussed potentially organizing a brewery tour, with Mike suggesting meeting at the Tinmouth Brewery location.
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