We recently sent this issue of Model Society Magazine to our subscribers, but we didn’t promote it or do a launch as usual. The reason we held back is the extensive use of AI-assisted image editing in the creative workflow. Model Society has been establishing a policy against AI-generated images, and Todd F. Jerde (the artist featured in the book) has started experimenting with Photoshop’s AI tools as part of his creative process. We didn't realize until the last minute. So, we paused the launch – until now.

We thought Model Society needed a simple policy banning images that don't feature real models. It's pretty straightforward: you can't celebrate human beauty as a work of art without humans. But with AI-assisted editing, this publication threw us into a gray area we never expected to encounter.

Todd’s use of these tools is aligned with his creative vision. Todd is a passionate, talented, and thoughtful artist who employs many tools. All of the images in this publication feature Lady Ubell (a very real person) as the model. She and Todd have worked together on this beautiful body of work for years. In some ways, the spirit of this publication represents the best of Model Society.

While many of these images employ the use of AI, many of them do not. But because we’ve been proclaiming Model Society as an AI-free oasis – dedicated to human beauty, human creativity, and human skill, we wanted to be transparent and set a clear context about the nature of the artwork.

We also wanted to use this as an opportunity to invite your feedback. If Model Society's mission is to celebrate human beauty – as seen through the eyes of human artists – then how much AI do we allow? Where and how should model society draw the line?

Maybe soon, there won’t be a difference between image editing and AI-assisted image editing. We may just be shaking our fists at the sky.

What do you think? Please follow the link and fill out the survey.