For a while, I assumed the biggest problem in AI image editing was obvious:

the model just wasn’t good enough yet.

If the output changed a face too much, use a better model. If the product logo became distorted, use a better model. If the lighting looked strange, wait for the next model release.

That explanation is comforting because it turns every failure into a model-quality problem.

But while working on an AI photo editing workflow, I kept running into a different conclusion: