The date was February 19, 1990.
I was, um, significantly younger.
That is the date the world was introduced to the brainchild of two brothers: Thomas and John Knoll.
The world would never be the same.
That was the date Photoshop 1.0 was released for the Macintosh computer.
In recent years—particularly before the developments in AI image generation—Photoshop has been synonymous with image editing and digital manipulation.
Even Meghan Trainor sang about the software in All About the Bass:
I see the magazine workin’ that Photoshop
We know that sh*t ain’t real, come on now, make it stop
Today, the battle over image manipulation has turned to deepfakes: AI-generated images that can be highly realistic in creating revenge porn, fake news, and hoaxes. Politicians across the country are enacting laws outlawing the creation and distribution of deepfakes.
But this isn’t the first time the legal system has turned toward fake images.
As explained in an article from Freethink, the United States Senate first broached this subject more than 100 years ago.
America tried to ban fake photos in 1912 goes into the historical records behind the battle over image manipulation.
The issue arose from humble beginnings of portrait retouching and soon blossomed into people appearing to be photographed with President William Taft (among others). And, yes, there were issues with fake nude images of celebrities being produced during that time, as well.
Is this another case of history repeating itself? Or is it the conclusion of a 100-year-old unfinished piece of legislation?
Just something to think about in our “modern” society.
PHOTO CREDIT: The application icon for Adobe Photoshop
