2024 is set to be an exciting year for Alcea - there are new speaking opportunities, networking events, and general business adventures to have as we grow. So, our founder, Ellen, decided that it was time to look into getting some headshots done for the aforementioned events.
And as Alcea advocates AI, trying out new tools is a must - just how good is AI technology? Can it replace us? Is it already beating us at core competencies?
Well, the answer is both yes and no. It really all depends on what you're asking AI to do. For example, if you need a poem, an essay, or even a health and safety procedure written, then tools like Chat GPT and Bard are very likely going to be able to help you out with fair to good results. But, if you need an AI tool to provide you with a headshot picture that looks professionally done instead of going to a real-life human photographer, can it do that?
Well, yes, it can, but it won't necessarily look enough like you to be you... take a look.
Aragon AI creating the images
For our Alcea experiment, we used Aragon AI, and for just under £30 we got loads of AI- generated images.
The process is simple and quick. Just upload a selection of selfies into Aragon, answer a couple of questions about your age, gender and characteristics such as hair colour, pop in your payment and wait - a little while later, you're sent a link with a range of new AI-generated headshots.
And the thing is most of them aren't bad - they do kind of look like Ellen but they're also not quite right either. There's a few off with tops that don't seem to end or arms in odd places but they're not the norm. Most of the images are plausible images. And, this is amazing, unnerving and exciting technology. However, it's in it's earliest form right now and it does look like there's room for further development. There are lots of AI tools out there that offer this service, and I'd recommend Aragon as affordable and easy to use. But, as with all technology - using with caution is recommended!
The verdict
There's real potential here to see how this develops over time. But for now at least for headshots people will see when they meet Ellen in person, it's back to the human photographer for now. We'll definitely keep trying this out though - there's potential here in all sorts of ways.
Oh and for the record, this is the real Ellen, totally unfiltered. Similar but not the same.
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