Video: Can AI do a better job retouching a portrait than a skilled editor?

posted Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 11:45 AM EDT

It feels like artificial intelligence, or AI, is everywhere in photography right now. It's featured in software like Photoshop, Luminar, Capture One, and even cameras themselves. AI can do a lot. But can it retouch skin in portraits? Unmesh Dinda of PiXimperfect answers this question in his latest video.

In the video below, Dinda tests a Photoshop plugin, Retouch4me. The AI-based blemish retouching software can be used as a plugin or as a standalone application for macOS and Windows. It costs $93, on sale from $124. There's a separate AI tool, Dodge & Burn, that uses AI to selectively lighten and darken a portrait. This costs $112, on sale from $149. The tools are expensive. However, if they work well, it could be a worthwhile investment for portrait photographers, as retouching skin by hand can take quite a bit of time.

Therein lies the big question, do the tools work well? Dinda compares the Retouch4me tools against other AI tools, such as Luminar and Photoshop's Neural Filters. He also compares it to manual editing. Dinda is exceptionally good at retouching. However, even for a skilled editor, it can take at least 30-40 minutes to manually remove blemishes and perform dodging and burning. If you must edit multiple images, the time adds up fast. On the other hand, the Photoshop action works almost instantly and does a really impressive job. See for yourself.

Dinda then brings up a larger discussion about the limits of AI compared to human creativity. AI tools can save you a lot of time and a lot of hassle. For some tasks, even complex ones like skin retouching, AI can do an incredible job. However, wherever there's room for human creativity to enter the equation, AI can't quite match a skilled photographer. At least, not yet.

If you'd like to learn how to perform high-end skin retouching by hand, which is a worthwhile skill to add to any portrait or fashion photographer's bag of tricks, see below to watch Dinda work on the photo featured in the above video.