Tennessee Tourism Celebrates Real Photographers by Banishing AI Images

In the age of AI-generated photos, Tennessee’s Department of Tourist Development wants prospective visitors to know its beautiful sights are 100% real.

Tennessee’s new tourism campaign has a simple tagline: “Yeah, it’s real.” It comes with a little checkmark-centric graphic, plastered over the top of real-life, real-world photos shot from across Tennessee, like an authenticity watermark of sorts.

“Every day, millions of AI-generated photos are created,” the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development explains. “And while AI has a lot of potential, it’s not always used in the right way. Leading to feeds flooded with fake imagery and travelers who can’t even tell what’s real anymore. Until now.”

Tennessee Tourism’s solution, the new “certified mark,” verifies that a photo of Tennessee’s natural wonders and tourist attractions is authentic.

“You can trust it’s a real view from a real destination you can really visit,” the state says.

It’s not just a simple mark, either. Each verified image comes with metadata, showing precisely where and when the photo was captured and by whom. For example, a photo from October 12, 2023, of Reelfoot Lake State Park was shot by photographer Felipe Rincon using a Sony a7R IV with a Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS lens.

Photographer Jared Kreiss used his Sony a7R V to capture a featured image at Lost Creek Falls just a couple of months ago. He used a Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens at 26mm and f/16. Kreiss has a few other featured shots, including one from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2021, when he was using an older Sony a7R III, and another from 2023 capturing a beautiful bear portrait.

As Tennessee Tourism explains, it is not just focused on avoiding wholly AI-generated imagery for its new campaign, any AI-based editing is disallowed. That means no Generative Fill, no AI Style Transfer, and no AI-powered filters.

“Any AI-generated alteration that creates, adds, or changes reality” is prohibited.

Color adjustments, basic global edits, and removing sensor dust spots are allowed, as long as dust spot removal uses old-school healing tools.

This new campaign is “a commitment to authenticity and a promise to travelers that, when it comes to Tennessee, what you see is what you get,” Mark Ezell, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development tells Tennessee Lookout.

“We want to make sure travelers know when they look at photos on TNVacation.com, they can trust that what they see is a real place captured by a real photographer,” Ezell continues.

“I find it incredibly frustrating to see AI-generated images being passed off as photography of real places, and even more frustrating when people believe they’re real. To me, that’s deceptive,” photographer Jared Kreiss tells Tennessee Lookout. “It’s becoming harder and harder to tell real from AI. I am incredibly excited about this campaign and to know Tennessee’s tourism  department is working to preserve what is real. I think it is more important than ever to protect that. I really value that.”

It’s a fantastic initiative that celebrates real photographers taking actual, authentic images of places that truly exist and can look as beautiful as they appear. Photos are among the most powerful ways for states, parks, and regions to encourage visitors to come, and it is vital that the photos people see are representative of the places they hope to visit.

Image credits: Tennessee Tourism. Featured photos by Felipe Rincon and Jared Kreiss.