New AI feature for Lightroom and Lightroom Classic
Wednesday 4 March 2026, 14:41 by Nando Harmsen | 1,431 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
A new update has been released for Lightroom and Lightroom Classic. That is always welcome, of course, as updates often bring improvements. However, one of the new features has nothing to do with photo editing, but is purely about AI. What do you think of this addition?
Using so-called AI techniques in photo editing can be very useful. You can select objects more easily and quickly, noise can be removed more efficiently, and small distracting elements can be removed easily.
That is where the usefulness of AI ends for me. At least when it comes to photo editing. As soon as content is artificially created that goes beyond removing a small element, it goes a step too far.
Creating new content from nothing has nothing to do with photography anymore, in my opinion. At that point, it is photo manipulation. Mind you, I am not necessarily against that, but then do not call it photography anymore.
Comparing creating digital images from nothing with photography is like comparing painting with photography. It is something completely different. Now let me move on to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic.
Lightroom and Lightroom Classic are programmes for cataloguing the photos you take and editing raw (or JPEG) files. Digitally developing photos in the light room (Lightroom), just as was done in the darkroom in the past.
But Adobe has now added the option to send a photo directly to Firefly from Lightroom and Lightroom Classic. This is called generating with Firefly, and you can either edit a photo there or generate a video from a photo.
When I look at the purpose of Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, I do not think this belongs in these programmes at all. If you want to create this kind of manipulation and artificial content, why not leave it to Photoshop?
As a photographer, I do not want to be overwhelmed with all the AI options that have nothing to do with photography. It is still somewhat hidden for now, but it seems to be pushed more and more forcefully to the forefront.
What do you think about this? Do you think this is a good development in Lightroom and Lightroom Classic? Let us know in a comment below this post.
About the author
Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.
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2 comments
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rik wrote on Thursday 5 March 2026 at 19:43 | replyThese days, AI is being shoved down our throats in every possible way... with all the consequences that entails (much higher electricity consumption by data centers, shortages of components, computers and phones becoming obsolete too quickly, etc.) which we are literally paying the bill for.
Translated from Dutch.
Personally, I don't think AI is a suitable application within photography and post-processing. For me, it takes away the typical 'shots by rik' look. But that's my opinion. That's why I prefer photographing with a DSLR rather than a mirrorless camera (I've tried that).
But for people who like to be done quickly with little effort and don't mind their photos becoming more and more one-note like the majority's, it is of course a nice solution. To each their own!
And that is the upside of this story: we have more and more to choose from. Great! -
Hanry wrote on Monday 9 March 2026 at 19:32 | replyIn my opinion, a completely unnecessary feature in Lightroom. This feature misses the point of Lightroom, which is basically a photo editing program. And that’s even leaving aside the disadvantages of AI, such as high electricity consumption and water for cooling data centers. For me, a reason to critically reconsider whether I should stay with LR or look for other software.
Translated from Dutch.
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