AI is fabricating our memories, and not capturing them
Expectations were high as to whether or not there would be hairspray on school photo day. My kids got my curly hair, you know? And on a 32-degree day with PE included, you’d have to damage the ozone to get a photo worth paying $58 for.
I finally reach the first row in the car queue. The trunk is opened, bags are thrown in, oblivious to my laptop, Woolies bags full of dinner hopes, or a picnic blanket that has never seen a picnic. The sound of the seatbelt is my cue to start the Q&A, but on a typical day, there are more Questions than Answers.
“How were the school photos? Did you stand in the back again?” I ask with pride, I already know the answer. I was a front rower all my little life. The kids standing in the back probably makes more sense to me than it should.
“We didn’t have a class photo.”
“Really? Why not?” I asked, surprised at the answer I got and shocked by the surprising answer. Someone must have vomited, or maybe the teacher lost it because the kids were upset. Either way, there’s gossip, and that’s what I’m here for.
“They will use artificial intelligence to do this.”
Shocked.
Apparently, the photographer took individual photos of each student in a standing and sitting position and will use artificial intelligence to combine them to form a group. Rather than capturing a moment that was, individual photographs were put together to create a moment that never happened.
When I ordered the photos, I was expecting a captured moment. It’s not a made-up thing.
The class photo is a rite of passage. The boredom of waiting in line, trying to figure out whether your uniform can get bigger, could mean you’re moving back one row. Storing gum. You touch your classmate’s shoulder and hold back tears of laughter as he looks around nervously.
And then you remember all this when you see the photo at your parents’ house and wonder why no one ever told you to pull your socks up.
These collective moments are what make school life so unforgettable. Of course, these are ordinary things. But ordinary things create memories.
The idea of the class photo of 2026 showing them together when they’re not actually bothered me. Why couldn’t a group photo be taken? They were already together; their parents went to great trouble to put every hair in its place, tie perfect ribbons, stay late for work. If artificial intelligence is going to be used, why not go all out and save parents the trouble? We could send our favorite photo of our child and the photographer would use AI to put them in uniforms and we could put them together.
We won a small victory on the new social media ban on children. Are we now showing them that it’s okay to fake photos?
During the discussion, other parents pointed out much larger concerns. Where were these images stored? What artificial intelligence tool were they feeding on? Could their similarities show up in an unexpected place? My growing anger was interrupted by a notification of likes on a photo of my children on Instagram. Which got me thinking: What’s the point of even getting angry when I have no idea where Meta keeps the hundreds of photos I once thoughtlessly shared of my kids?
Just like my after-school car rides, I have more Qs than A’s. But what I do know is that in the list of big challenges that can be solved with the brain power of artificial intelligence, classroom photography is not one of them.
Marie El Daghi is a communications expert and mother of two with Chasing Albert.
Get a weekly opinion pack that will challenge, defend and inform your own views. Sign up for our opinion newsletter.
