I'm in constant search for  preparedness-focused imagery, inclusive of  African American ethnicity.  For scenes involving strategic preparedness activities such as safety, survival, and other readiness scenarios, it's still very scant.  

I'm essentially having to create a new Preparedness imagery industry! That makes me an "imagery industrialist" doesn't it!    So far, the best quality repository of African American imagery I've found is Nappy.co

I don't have Tyler Perry's budget, yet, for camera crews and CGI editing, so I decided to try Bing A.I. Image Creator as a source of “visionary” imagery that isn't available in traditional stock photo libraries such as Shutterstock, iPhoto, and even Nappy.co 

Bing A.I. Image Creator allows you to enter a description of what scenery or activity you want, and the algorithm pumps out your "order." It literally lets your imagination run wild, for FREE! 

For my Eclipse 2024 Niagara Heritage Tour imagery, I requested an “African American”  girl wearing a parka with her passport in hand, and the eclipse in progress behind her.   Tall order for a stock photo right?

But not for Bing Image Creator.  Here’s what it came up with…

Not bad, actually! I love the complexion, the hair, the nails in the foreground. Some features remained innacurate, like the passport, or distorted, like the mis-shapen left hand. I love how A.I. positioned her hand over the eclipse. All in all, I really liked the result with this. I will use it as a “Storyboard” for an actual photo at the April 2024 event. What do you think?

Now, in another scenario, I requested an image of a girl showing fear, as if an at-risk event just occurred. This is what A.I. produced. The default ethnicity is Caucasian. I had to specify African American or Asian to get a different ethnicity.

Default results always show Caucasian ethnicity. 

Perhaps some other A.I. software allow you  to set the default ethnicity.

Can't tell if this is real or A.I.! 

 

A.I. tends to create exaggerated facial features on African Americans 

----------------

Conclusion? A.I. generated imagery will not replace imagery using real people anytime soon.  

It’s rendering of body and facial features, especially of people of color, leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Meanwhile, A.I. Image generation has very good use for “storyboarding”!  I've "toyed" with it to create imaginative scenery, to eventually be enacted by real actors.  

Here’s a few “storyboarding” examples of what I mean.

 E2024NHT Attendees overlooking the falls

 Overcoming travel jitters!

Children observing the eclipse. They  they don’t appear to be wearing glasses so it’s not safe.  I will use this imagery in an Eclipse Eye Safety preparedness PSA

-------------

Try out Bing A.I. Image Creator. It's FREE for now. 

AI Image Generator - ChatGPT (chat-gpt.org) - Also FREE , for now! 

How do you use A.I. image generators for imagery to fit the visual narratives of your projects? 

-------------

"Change the imagery, change the paradigm, change the outcome." 

Pam Kelly - Imagery Industrialist