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Published : 15 Dec 2025, 03:30 PM
Photography has undergone its most prominent technological change since the very beginning of the medium. In the course of its technological evolution, photography has seen massive sea changes. Image-capturing methods have been altered via the changes from film rolls to digital sensors and from darkrooms to editing software, as well as the transition from heavy DSLRs to compact mirrorless cameras. But AI technology – the latest shift – has resulted in a radical change in photography that now exceeds all previous instances with its impact.
AI technology allows users to create completely fabricated images that show non-existent protests and floods, and political leaders in places that they have never visited. Technological advancement in photojournalism has raised an ethical and existential problem for professionals who make a commitment to the documentation of real events.
Afterward, these visual fakes can be disseminated on social media platforms even before professional journalistic verification is able to confirm their authenticity. Nowadays, the public suspects every photograph, whereas the image once used to be the most trustworthy form of documentary evidence. The authenticity of real photos taken by journalists on the frontlines is called into question as people believe these images may have originated from AI technology.
This growing distrust has a direct negative impact on the public's understanding of real-world events. The coming of AI undermines the photographers who have dedicated their lives to documenting the truth, covering the Rana Plaza collapse, the Rohingya refugee crisis, years of political unrest, cyclones and floods, and all the other events of Bangladeshi history.
Moreover, the difference between the real photographs and AI-generated ones is not only in their technical aspect, but also the involvement of the human element. Real photojournalism needs photographers to be there at the scene and to have empathy and show courage and take full responsibility for their work. The artist needs to smell the smoke from the fire of the factory, feel the monsoon water in the flooded village and see the desperation of families fleeing violence first-hand. AI lacks the ability to thoroughly explore the full depth of these definitive moments.
The issue at stake is a serious dilemma for the photojournalists to solve. Social media platforms are using AI-generated content in order to trick the public into developing certain views. At the same time, they intensify false outrage and distort the historical record. What makes the situation worse is that misinformation is already spreading very quickly in many countries without being verified properly.
Photographers at present have to perform two vital tasks - documenting events accurately and defending their work as authentic. Different news organisations all over the globe are now implementing metadata standards and encrypted file transfers and digital watermarks as means to confirm the source of the images they have published. The verification of truth has become the core of the process due to the fact that nowadays, it is necessary to confirm information several times is necessary.
Being transparent about everything that is involved in the AI process is a prerequisite for the use of AI. Photojournalists, likewise, reveal more aspects of their work when they post their exact locations, complete observation experiences, and thorough production methods. Media transparency practice works as a bridge for the audiences to renew their trust in news organisations.
AI will never be able to substitute for real photojournalism since it performs differently. Journalism is based on providing facts rather than fabricating artificial stories. While a machine is able to create pictures of a scene that look realistic, it cannot depict the actual events. The technology doesn’t have the capacity to feel the intensity of the disaster area, the vulnerability of the refugees, or the heat of a political movement. Neither is the technology capable of making ethical decisions in the field and gaining the trust of the people whose stories it is trying to share.
AI-created content is a potential that could lead people to a higher degree of accuracy, honesty, and a different attitude towards the preservation of truth. What will happen with photography is very much dependent on how we adapt, and is also dependent upon how much we hold on to the ethical principles of journalism. Fundamentally, photography is a social-leaning visual medium; it is about being accountable. Therefore, as long as these things are happening in reality, the society will need firsthand reports from photojournalists. AI is a technology that may imitate, overemphasise, or invent, yet it cannot emulate the human obligation to delivering the truth.
Munir Uz Zaman is a Bangladeshi photojournalist who works for Paris-based international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP)
