Robi Gallardo on AI, Mobile Photography and Creativity
AI, Agency and the Human Imagination: In Conversation with Robi Gallardo
Artificial intelligence has become impossible to ignore. Whether quietly enhancing the photographs we make on our smartphones or generating entirely synthetic images from a line of text, AI is redefining the boundaries of photography at remarkable speed. Yet while the technology continues to evolve, the questions it raises are far older than the software itself. What makes an image ours? Where does authorship begin and end? Can a machine ever replicate lived experience, or merely imitate its appearance?
These are questions I continue to explore through this ongoing interview series for TheAppWhisperer. Rather than focusing on the technology alone, I am far more interested in the photographers who must now navigate it—artists whose practices have been shaped by observation, patience, curiosity and an enduring relationship with the world around them.
It is therefore a pleasure to welcome Robi Gallardo, a respected mobile photographer and creative from Hong Kong. Throughout his work, Robi has consistently embraced innovation without ever losing sight of the human experience that lies at the heart of meaningful photography. His responses here are thoughtful, measured and refreshingly honest, offering neither blind optimism nor outright scepticism, but something altogether more valuable: perspective.
JC – When did AI first begin influencing your creative workflow, either directly or indirectly?
RG – Possibly when Apple’s Photo app and Snapseed started featuring an auto-adjust feature. It could be argued that Photoshop’s Auto Levels feature (which first appeared in Photoshop 4 in 1996) is also AI of a primitive sort.
JC – Do you see AI as a creative collaborator, a technical tool, or something more disruptive to photographic practice?
RG – As with any tool, it can be constructive or disruptive. For me, I prefer to use AI (as with Luminar Neo), to get started on a photo and to be a technical aid.
JC – Has AI changed the way you think about authenticity within photography and mobile art?
RG – I feel it can do amazing things, but it also leaves me ambivalent. Having tried using AI to “create” from scratch, I am always left wondering whose final work I’m actually looking at. The mind-to-hand-to-medium connection feels like it’s not there.
JC – Many smartphones now apply heavy computational processing automatically. Do you feel photographers still fully control the image-making process?
RG – I sure hope so. I would like to make my own adjustments and tweaks even if I start out letting the smartphone do some computational work. I have heard of some smartphones using computational photography to assemble/construct a perfect shot of the moon; I am unsure of the use of AI in this manner. However, if we treat it as a tool and master it (rather than the other way around), I feel it could be a real help. Decide who has the agency!
JC – Have you ever felt conflicted about using AI-assisted editing tools within your own work?
RG – For editing and tweaking, no. It’s a great help and time saver. “Assisted” being the operative word.
JC – Do you think audiences should always be informed when AI has been used within an artwork or photographic image?
RG – I’m sure there’s discussion going on about this right now. I feel we should be guided by conscience and empathetic consideration. In the early days of mobile photography we would list out the device used and the apps used; it helped, it informed, and it led us to discover new apps and new ways of creating images.
JC – Are you concerned that AI-generated imagery may overwhelm or devalue slower, more personal photographic practices?
RG – I think “personal” is the operative word here. How much of an AI-generated image is actually yours (mine)?
JC – How do you think AI is affecting ideas surrounding memory, truth and documentation within photography?
RG – I am concerned about the AI-generated slop that’s already floating around on the Internet (YouTube, for instance). If photography is the capturing of an instant in history, or of a passing idea, should we not do our best to be grounded, human, and truthful?
JC – In your opinion, can AI-generated images carry the same emotional weight as photographs connected to lived human experience?
RG – I mentioned AI slop earlier. I feel these do a disservice to everyone. Creativity is a gift to humanity and a means to express ourselves.
JC – Have developments in AI changed the way you archive, edit or curate your own images?
RG – Sort of. But I’m still trying to curate my images!
JC – Do you believe younger photographers entering the field now will define creativity differently from previous generations?
RG – I expect this will be the case.
JC – Has AI influenced the way you think about authorship and ownership within digital art?
RG – Sure.
JC – What ethical responsibilities do artists and platforms have when publishing AI-generated imagery?
RG – Well, I mentioned it earlier: be grounded, human and truthful.
JC – Are there aspects of human experience that you believe AI will never convincingly replicate visually?
RG – It can’t do your imagining for you or come up with your “eureka” moments while you’re sleeping.
JC – Looking ahead five years, what excites or worries you most about the future relationship between AI and mobile photography?
RG – That the money to be made will become more important than the artists and creators.
My Thoughts
Reading Robi’s responses, I was struck less by what he says about artificial intelligence than by what he says about photography itself. Again and again, he returns to the importance of agency. AI, in his view, should remain an assistant rather than an author. Whether discussing computational photography, editing software or image generation, he reminds us that technology works best when it extends our vision instead of replacing it. His comment, “Decide who has the agency!”, feels like the quiet thesis of this entire conversation.
I was also particularly drawn to his observation that fully AI-generated imagery lacks the “mind-to-hand-to-medium connection”. It is an elegant way of describing something many photographers instinctively feel but struggle to articulate. Photography has never simply been about producing pictures. It is about seeing, waiting, responding, remembering and experiencing. The camera records light, but the photograph is shaped by the person standing behind it.
Robi also raises an increasingly important distinction between AI-assisted photography and AI-generated imagery. Like many photographers, he welcomes tools that remove repetitive technical tasks or help refine an image. What gives him pause is the point at which software ceases to assist and instead becomes the primary creator. That distinction is one I believe will define many conversations about photography over the coming decade.
His concern about the growing volume of what he calls AI “slop” online is equally significant. We are entering an era in which visual abundance no longer guarantees visual meaning. Images have never been easier to produce, yet photographs that genuinely move us remain remarkably rare. Technical perfection has never been photography’s greatest achievement. Its real power lies in its ability to preserve moments of human experience that cannot be manufactured.
Perhaps the phrase that stayed with me longest was Robi’s call to remain “grounded, human and truthful”. It is a simple statement, but one that feels increasingly relevant. Photography has always been an imperfect medium, and perhaps that is precisely why it continues to matter. Its imperfections reveal the presence of the photographer. They remind us that someone was there, that a moment was witnessed rather than invented.
Robi ends with a concern that I suspect many creatives quietly share: that the commercial opportunities surrounding AI may become more important than the artists themselves. It is a timely observation. Technology has always transformed photography, but its future should never be measured solely by speed, efficiency or profitability. It should be measured by whether it continues to help us understand ourselves and one another.
This conversation does not attempt to resolve the debate surrounding AI, nor should it. Instead, it offers something far more valuable: a reminder that photography has always been a profoundly human act. However sophisticated our tools become, imagination, empathy, memory and lived experience remain beyond the reach of algorithms. They belong, as they always have, to the photographer.
Read More from our AI and Photography Series
This interview forms part of my ongoing AI and Photography series at TheAppWhisperer, where I invite artists, photographers, and image-makers to reflect on how artificial intelligence is reshaping creativity, authorship, truth, and visual culture.
. Jane Schultz – ‘The imperfect human hand may become the most radical artistic gesture of all”
• Rita Colantonio — “The Integrity of the Fine Artist Must Be Preserved”
https://theappwhisperer.com/2026/05/the-integrity-of-the-fine-artist-must-be-preserved-rita-colantonio-on-ai-and-photography/
• Dan Marcolina — Between Photography and AI: A Conversation with Dan Marcolina
https://theappwhisperer.com/2026/06/between-photography-and-ai-a-conversation-with-dan-marcolina/
• Michelle Sank — Michelle Sank on AI, Photography, Truth and Authenticity
[Michelle Sank]
. Gianluca Ricoveri – AI and Photography: Gianluca Ricoveri on Truth, Memory and Presence
https://theappwhisperer.com/2026/06/ai-photography-gianluca-ricoveri-truth-memory-presence/
. Bonobo Stone – AI and Photography Interview Series: Bonobo Stone on Authenticity, Evolution and Modern-Day Cave Painting
https://theappwhisperer.com/2026/07/bonobo-stone-ai-photography-interview/
Together, these interviews form an evolving archive of artistic thought at a moment when photography is being fundamentally redefined. As this series grows, so too does the urgency of the questions it asks.
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
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