Legacy in the Age of AI

Nov 2, 2025 | By: Kim Yanick Portraits

Legacy in the Age of AI What Will We Leave Behind?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about legacy. Not the kind you measure in numbers or accolades, but the quieter kind—the reminders of who we were, what we valued, and how we loved.

As AI races forward, creating images from thin air and polishing away imperfections at the click of a button, I can’t help but ask: what will future generations actually inherit from us?

When your grandchildren walk through your home years from now, will they see a portrait on the wall and feel the warmth of that memory? Or will they scroll through thousands of digital files—many altered, filtered, even fabricated—and wonder which moments were ever real?

Legacy isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about the crooked tie at a graduation, the missing tooth in a family portrait, the way your dog’s ears never quite matched. These details, the so-called imperfections, are what bring memory alive.

AI can produce flawless versions of our faces and generate dreamlike scenes. But it cannot bottle the smell of the forest that day, the sound of laughter echoing across the field, or the bond you felt as your pet leaned into you. Legacy is lived, not manufactured.

I learned this lesson deeply with Floyd, my Great Dane. When he passed in 2019, I realized how few portraits I had that truly captured him. I had plenty of phone snapshots, but so many of them felt fleeting, incomplete—nothing worthy of a wall. That gap in my own story became the spark that changed everything for me. I wanted to ensure that others didn’t have the same regret—that when someone they loved was gone, they would have art that felt timeless, worthy, and true.

Now, my current dog Honey is getting older. She’s still my joyful sidekick, always underfoot or photobombing sessions, but I can see the subtle signs of time passing. Because of Floyd, I’ve made it a point to create portraits of Honey that show her as she really is—ears cocked, eyes bright, and always radiating that mischief and joy.

Those portraits already mean the world to me. And I know that someday, they’ll be my anchor, my reminder of all the laughter, the companionship, and the daily comfort she gave. This is legacy in action—not a perfect, polished imitation, but an authentic celebration of who she truly is.

The portraits you choose to print and hang are not just décor. They become visual anchors—reminders of who you were in a particular season of life. They’re the images your children and grandchildren will grow up with, the ones that will tell them: this is our story.

That is why I create with the future in mind. The museum-grade materials I use, the way I guide families and individuals during a session, the attention to connection over perfection—it’s all intentional. Because these portraits aren’t just for today. They’re for tomorrow, and long after.

I believe strongly that in the age of AI, we have to be deliberate about what we preserve. Technology has its place, yes—but it should support our stories, not overwrite them. A leash can be edited out, a distracting background polished away. But the heart of the image, the authenticity of the connection—that stays. That’s the legacy worth protecting.

One day, someone you love will pause in front of a portrait on the wall and feel the echo of your laugh, your embrace, your presence. That’s not something an algorithm can generate. That’s the gift of real legacy.

 

 

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