More of my honest takes on Adobe, AI and where photography's heading, all in one playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA4uJY2vI13A

My feeling is that the "younger generation" uses AI on their phones and PS is trying to keep pace.  So now I am a luddite because I like my own creativity and the process developed in years of editing.   To me, art is a sum of one's experiences, not a button you push.

You’ve managed to pin point and articulate what a lot of us long-time users have been feeling. (And suddenly InDesign is going the same way too.) Also, when are we going to get an undo button when we’ve just wasted credits on a really bad/not what we wanted gen AI edit?! It is also quite noticeable that Firefly is the worst of the models.  It’s like they’re playing catch-up but have taken it too far.

You nailed it Glyn!  Hope Adobe sees this video.

Here, here!! Well said, and could not agree more!!!!

Excellent video. Great point about how using credits adversely affects the creative process.

I'm so glad you made this video... I tried some of these new AI updates and immediately felt like "I don't know what Photoshop is anymore... and I don't know that I want to use it anymore..." The updates that feel good are smart subject selections, new action presets, AI noise reduction, glow/bloom/halation, the new "Light" adjustment layer controls, new hue/sat color picker adjustment thingy.. grain and clarity.. etc. Things that help me be creative, keeping me moving forward, or allowing me to get lost in playing and experimenting for hours. Photoshop always felt like a "pro" tool that anyone could use. I don't like the distinction that there's now two versions, one for "make AI do all the work" and the other for "Pros" where it's just even more AI... The problem isn't necessarily AI.. it can genuinely be helpful. But it's the integration and intention of what it's trying to achieve. Taking away my artistic license and control is a big NO for me. If it's not helping me, it's only hindering me (while making me feel awful... both mentally and emotionally).

Cheers Glyn and thanks for keeping us updated 👍

I do worry what their future updates will entail. But with that said, the generative remove tool saves me so much time.

I bailed on the Photoshop/Lightroom subscription, which I’d had since it first came available, about 18 months ago when Photoshop kept telling me the photos I tried to edit violated their policies when I used their new tools.   Yeah I could have kept doing things the old way but I found it ridiculous that trying to edit the background of a photo that had a woman in a “family friendly” swimsuit was getting flagged.  I used the feedback to submit the photos to them but things didn’t get better  and  I can’t support that level of prudishness.

I agree totally with you!

Thanks for being direct Glyn, your view has given me a much better understanding of how Ai fits in. I've been with PS since it the free V1, I use it for what I need when I need it, I probably know about 5% of PS and I learn every day, at my age (80+) I can still do clever edits. Thanks again for your view & good luck. 🙂🙂🙂

Excellent and thought-provoking analysis of the direction in which Photoshop is potentially heading. I too share your concerns and really hope that AI does not become the dominant feature. I am so heavily invested in both Lightroom and Photoshop that I realistically cannot contemplate going elsewhere for my editing, nor would I wish to at the moment with all the excellent updates coming to both applications. The future is going to be very interesting indeed.

Spot on!

I agree! Less AI and more updates on real photo editing tools.

Thank you so much Glyn for the very informative video! I agree with you!

Thank you for the professional and balanced overview. I especially appreciate that Photoshop now clearly shows, before an action is performed, when generative credits will be used.

In this respect, Adobe currently seems to me like one of the “white players” — it is clear what I am paying for, how the credits are being used, and what the limits are.

This is especially important at a time when many AI services use “dark patterns”, making subscriptions, charges, and cancellation as complicated as possible. One particularly memorable example for me was Higgsfield, with an almost nine-step cancellation process.

Showing the cost before the click is good business practice and a sign of respect for the customer.

excellent review. i started photoshop last century when hardly any photographers used it, it took ages to cut out with pen tool and a long learning curve, great advantages in time saving features now , in my creative world you are absolutely right on how much will it cost me to do  an edit  now , and a re edit, damn annoying . it actually feels like its stifling my creative juices . Also often i found  GPT was more accurate  in prompts , but also a simple request because it sees a bit of skin "sorry we cant because of guidelines" is like WHAT!!  no way . very irritating.

Thx for all your content, you do an incredible job with all you do and share for us. I do not use Photoshop, I am a Lightroom user. Every time I try to use PS as a beginner, it is beyond overwhelming. I think those that began and grew with PS can stay with it, but as a true beginner, I find it truly impossible to even start, especially now as things are added almost weekly.

I always like your videos on the latest PS updates, so generous of you Glen.  One frustrating thing for me is, just recently while trying to use Ai tools, PS states that my Mac is not up to date, so I check the Mac and it tells me it's up to date.  I recently increased the memory because of bigger file sizes. Long story short my Ventura OS can now only run older editions of PS not the 2026 version, so I'm now paying Adobe a yearly lump sum for no updates past 2025, unless I fork out £1400 minimum on a new Mac with Tahoe, so frustrating because I enjoy working with the 27' screen and what I've got.  Anyway still enjoying your videos and enthusiasm too.