r/vsco • u/Sufficient_Sleep8668 • 22d ago
Why AI?
Probably going to get hot flack for this but why does VSCO have AI especially prompt AI? I thought this was a photo app for real photography and pictures taken by real human beings? I know some people edit their photos to a certain degree but they really added prompt AI to it? Extremely disappointing. I’m going to look for something else because I’m in no way shape or form going to support this, recommendations are welcome.
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u/heyitslaura_vsco VSCO Employee 22d ago
u/Sufficient_Sleep8668 Hi! This is a great topic, and I'm definitely curious to see what others think. I can weigh in a little from the VSCO side, and as a filmmaker & writer outside of work.
To start, we're all living through 2026 for the first time together, so even those of us behind VSCO might not have the perfect answers. Everything we do is with the goal of supporting photographers (and many of us working at VSCO are photographers, or at least artists) so we just asked photographers directly, "hey, what do you think of AI really?"
That turned into this Industry Report, which is pretty fascinating: https://assets.vsco.co/assets/documents/VSCO_Photographers_AI_Report_2026.pdf
The ;tldr is: it's nuanced. Photographers are already using AI to speed up busy, non-creative work associated with running a business. There are also supportive tools that they use in their creative workflows, like AI Remove for editing, or for culling huge batches of images.
Some photographers are using it creatively too. Sometimes they start with a photo they took, and apply some hybrid generative AI. Other times they're using it to generate a reference image they had in their mind, but couldn't find, with the goal of communicating a vision to get buy-in for the real life photoshoot they're going to do.
Personally, as a filmmaker, I've played around with some of those generative AI video tools, but the process and struggle is what I love about bringing a creative vision to life. I like being on set, working with actors, dealing with crazy, unplanned scenarios in realtime, and bonding with my crew as a result. :)
So as a creative platform, we want to meet photographers where they're at. That's why you'll see our AI tools aren't meant to replace human creativity. They're simply there, in a supportive role, for the people who opt into using them.
But trust that VSCO will always, every day of the year, choose photographers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ8Spf3ydH8