Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. AI Headshots.

There’s a… thing… on the rise. And you’ve definitely heard about it – I mean, it’s everywhere, it’s hard NOT to notice it. And the thing? It’s Artificial Intelligence. It’s been around for a while, obviously, and you know that, unless you’ve been living under a rock. And I won’t lie to you, I totally use it, for certain things! Gotta embrace the future, if you’re going to grow.

But there are things AI just… isn’t for. And I’m not just saying that because I have to, I’m saying it because I want what’s best for you and your business – whether it means working with me for your photography needs or not. But as things stand… AI just isn’t at a point where it can meet your business’ needs, even though everyone and their brother is probably telling you the opposite. But I have evidence, not just flashy soundbites, and we’re going to walk through a bunch of it today.

AI is a cool tool, but the question is: how should you use it?

We can’t talk about AI and the changes it’s making to all kinds of landscapes, without talking about how cool it is. I mean, look, I get it. It’s really freaking cool to be able to type a sentence and get images back, that look like the vision you had in your head. And it’s even MORE tempting to use it for things like… headshot photography. Getting headshot images, for basically free, instead of hiring a photographer? Not needing to get all dolled up, and go places, to have images you can use to promote your business?

It sounds like an AMAZING way to increase profits, and decrease overhead. And I’m the first person to tell you that business… it involves a lot of math. That math is SUPER tempting math. Higher profits – that’s good math – it’s what we all want, right?

But here’s the thing. There is OTHER math involved in business, beyond just numbers-math. There’s also connection-math and humanity-math and touchpoint-math. And your photos are supposed to be doing work in THOSE areas, too. Those much less easily reduced to numbers areas.

What a Branding Photographer will do that an AI system CAN’T

At the end of the day, using AI to generate your headshots or branding images is going to cut out a ton of what actually makes those images work in the first place. And today, we’re walking through those less… quantitative… equations you need to keep in mind when you’re tempted to choose AI over artistry.

1 – Think like an artist

The first thing we’re going to poke at here, is artistry. Because let’s face it, AI is super cool and all that, but it’s just not there yet in an artistic respect. If you follow the groups where people are discussing prompts and how to frame them, you might learn a lot about how to get AI to generate images that look like they’re CLOSE to being artistic. But that AI? It doesn’t have an artist’s eye. It doesn’t know how to frame an image to highlight a specific tone.

And I’ll admit that there are models that are getting really good at outputting artistic portraits – but they’re only going to be as creative as the things that have come before it, because that’s how AI works. It’s trained on what already exists. It can’t innovate. It can’t create its own methods. And what does that mean for you? It can’t make your products stand out. It can ONLY make them blend into the crowd. Which is kind of the opposite of the point of having a branding photography session, right?

2 – Highlight your humanity

Connection is about humanity. It’s about seeing one another as flawed, cool, badass, fun, energetic, amazing PEOPLE. That’s what your branding images need to be doing for your business, because that’s a huge part of what’s going to keep your clients coming back again and again. And seeing humanity? Well… it kinda requires a human. Artificial intelligence, especially the generative kind, is really good at tricking us into thinking it’s human. If you’ve had a conversation with a bot lately, you know how easy it is to forget you’re not talking to a person.

But highlighting your human-ness, means being seen by someone who is also imperfectly, beautifully human. And showing the parts of that to your audience, so that they know you’re approachable, and when they interact with you, you’re going to be REAL with them. AI is just… not there yet. It doesn’t understand how to represent the beauty in our human-ness – and if you’ve seen AI images used to promote businesses, you probably know exactly what I mean. They’ve still got that uncanny-valley feeling, of being SO CLOSE to human… without the humanity. And that’s NOT what we want your future clients thinking when they see your promotional content!!

3 – Create Consistency in your content

We talk all the time about how HUGE consistency is in your content for your business, whether you’re a product-based business owner, or a service-based business owner. And it might seem like having AI tools at your fingertips might help with that, at large. I mean, using it to generate post ideas frees up part of your brain, lets you lean on things that already work… so why wouldn’t it do the same for your images? Well… there’s actually a really specific reason why. AI doesn’t GET IT yet. It’s not great at consistently outputting imagery that lines up with specific brand standards, or recreating the brand tone it output that one time, the NEXT time you try to use it. And those inconsistencies in your content? They’re a problem.

Working with a real, human photographer completely solves this problem. Instead of spending ages and ages trying to get an AI model to output consistent images that line up with your brand, you leave a session with a branding photographer with enough images to keep your brand going for ages. Which means working with a photographer actually SAVES you time, at this point. I can’t speak to how that might change as the models learn and grow – but right now? Humanity is where it’s at, if you’re looking for truly consistent content without all the time spent at your end.

4 – Support your business Long Term

Remember how I said business is all about connection? Well it’s also about relationships. Which really is just another way to say “connection” but I’m talking about a SPECIFIC type of relationship here – the kind between you, and someone who truly cares about your business’ growth and success. And let me tell you, your photographer? They care. Or at least I do! When I work with a business owner, I truly want them, and their business, to not only end up with amazing photos that they love, but to end up with photos that will do the work FOR them. My goal, is for you to have everything you need for promotion.

And not only that, but I want us to work together throughout your growth journey. I want us to create images for your NEXT product line, too. And those images? They’ll ALSO be consistent with your previous set. They’ll show your growth – they’ll highlight your humanity. They’ll tell your people WHY they should buy your cool things, or work with you at large. And we get to do that together, long term. I truly, truly want to SUPPORT you. And so do the other creative professionals you might work with for similar aspects of your business. But when you work with AI… you’re really just working with yourself. And while there’s nothing exactly WRONG with that, it kind of skips over the point.

5 – Help you STAND OUT, for the RIGHT reasons

We’ve touched on this a couple of times here, but I wanted to come right out and say it, because it’s really important. AI headshots are fun. You can give yourself wings, or horns, or (more realistically) put yourself in an office that’s WAY cleaner than your real one. But when you actually post those images, they’re not going to look like you. Or at least, not completely. They’ll be your likeness – but something will be OFF.

You know what I’m talking about. And it’s like what I talk about with social media templates, and other design components you use in your business. Certain mistakes in design make your content grab attention, for the WRONG reasons. Your headline isn’t centered. Or your font changes sizes in a weird spot. Or you didn’t balance your negative space. AI images? They’re going to draw attention because something seems wrong – just like those designs with a few little details not quite right. Maybe the tool you used smoothed your skin to a point where it looks like it’s silicone. Maybe it’s gotten your hands ALMOST right, but they’re just slightly the wrong size in relation to your arms. People won’t always know WHY it seems wrong – and you probably know that feeling. Looking at something and it’s slightly imperfect, but not in a “oh that’s human” kind of way. In the uncanny kind of way.

That’s the OPPOSITE kind of “standing out” you want for your business. You want to stand out because your content is uniquely yours – not generated from a collection of a million other people’s things. And working with a photographer? It solves that problem too.

Artificial Intelligence has its place in business…

I will absolutely not lie to you and say AI doesn’t have a place in business, because it does. But that place? It’s not in your images. Or at least, it isn’t YET. So if you’re hoping to highlight your humanity, stand out to your audience, create consistency for your brand, and work with an artist who GETS IT… let’s talk. I want to help your business grow – and so do the badass creatives I collaborate with.

Bonus: Take a look at just a few results that my AMAZING team of collaborators and me have gotten for our social media management clients!