The text On Camera Transformed by Machine Learning introduces us into the new technologies transforming the way we conceive the photographic camera as a tool or device for image-making. As the article states, the camera has become more than a point-and-shoot object through the emergence and use of machine learning algorithms and software and the role of the operator has shifted from the photographic experience.
In this new situation, image-capturing devices (the camera as an object is not necessarily needed anymore) are capable to recognize and organize visual data, this is, can make decisions and to take a picture by themselves. The control of time, light, composition, and other variables rely absolutely on the device. This implies an existential shift in the relationship between device and operator: the boundaries of authorship become unclear as the photographer is no longer required for the image capture. The camera becomes an independent proxy of the desires to grasp reality through images. In this particular scenario, what does it mean to give agency to the camera? Can we consider it will evolve from an inert tool or extension of the eye to become an active collaborator?
While it is known that the idea of a camera without an operator is not new, what is mesmerizing is the idea of an intelligent device not only capable to recognize visual data and take pictures but to be a learning entity, able to make choices, compose and select visual information to recreate the way we understand the subjective experience of photographic and visual capture. As these systems gain experience through continuous learning and access to a vast field of visual information I wonder, what kind of images will they create as they acquire independence and intelligence in time? Though all this learning originates from explicit human programming, to what extent will these devices and systems influence our visual field with their own subjectivity?