Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 10
In research, there is rarely a clean “The End.” There are just checkpoints.
So, this is my checkpoint.
When I started this journey, I was looking for data. I wanted to know how many people use Auto Mode vs. Manual Mode. I wanted to know technical details about sensors and algorithms. But over the last few weeks—through the interviews, the failed experiments, and the late-night confusion—I found something much more important.
I found the emotional core of the problem.
The Thief of Joy My biggest realization so far is not about technology; it’s about psychology.
I have come to believe that AI is a thief. It doesn’t steal our jobs (at least, not yet). It steals something more subtle. It steals the joy of the mistake.
In my experiments, I realized that when the camera makes everything perfect, it robs us of the curiosity in the process. It takes away that “happy accident”—the blurry, imperfect, messy shot that somehow captures the feeling better than a sharp image ever could. When we remove the struggle, we remove the satisfaction.
Where I Am Going Next So, where does that leave me?
I am not done. I still have more research to do. I need to dig deeper into how we can bring that struggle back without making photography impossible. I need to talk to more designers and photographers and maybe even build some prototypes.
But I do have a compass now.
My direction for the next phase of my research is the concept of the “Co-Pilot.” I don’t have the solution built yet. I don’t know exactly what it looks like. But I know that the future shouldn’t be about the machine taking over. It should be about a partnership where the human stays in charge of the art, and the machine just helps us get there.
The blog series for this session ends here, but the work is just getting started.
Thank you for reading my messy, imperfect thoughts. Now, I’m going back to the research.
