DALL-E is an artificial intelligence that can create images of literally anything simply by typing in a brief description of what you’d like to see. In under a minute, DALL-E produces a series of pictures that you may keep or even edit.
The AI was trained by sucking up hundreds of millions of images from across the internet, including fine artworks by every artist of note. DALL-E can even “create” new images in the style of Van Gogh, Picasso, Bruegel — you name it.
After months of restricted beta, DALL-E has been unleashed for the general public, and the results can astound, confuse, or even disgust.
Results are showing up and Twitter and elsewhere. Let me share a few with you.
“Corgi with a Pearl Earring,” a painting by Johannes Vermeer #ai #AIart #art #openai #dalle2 pic.twitter.com/xoTiW4BMy9
— AIartworks (@BestAIprompts) September 22, 2022
If Vermeer had been fond of Corgis, or just had a client who was, then why not?
“A neoclassical painting of the Grim Reaper working on his schoolwork” #ai #aiartcommunity #art #dalle2 #openai pic.twitter.com/ukSbt2M22M
— AIartworks (@BestAIprompts) September 22, 2022
If you can dream it, DALL-E can create it.
“Homer Simpson eating the Universe after a night of drinking, digital art” #ai #art #AIArtwork #dalle2 #openai pic.twitter.com/LzKOfxAXrq
— AIartworks (@BestAIprompts) September 22, 2022
Seriously… ANYTHING.
This next one could be a frame from a Pixar movie, back before Disney emasculated the studio’s creativity to turn it into a sequel-and-merchandizing cash cow.
A Woman in a Garden #1. Created by Floyd Kelly. Generated by #Midjourney artificial intelligence.
Click ALT for the prompt.#AI #AIArt #ArtificialIntelligence #NFT #MondayThoughts #Flowers #GamingNews pic.twitter.com/6ZFh4l9uaU
— Human & A.I. (@CreationsDallE) September 26, 2022
Whimsy is such a purely and distinctly human emotion that I was shocked an AI could capture it so well, even when not explicitly directed to do so.
As for this next one… not such much Pixar as a strange nightmare you hope to wake up from.
trying on DALL E 2
I'm amazed at how AI can generate images so accurately.#dalle2 pic.twitter.com/hm71aJmRzu— Auspicious Ahjussi | Vtuber | 3D Model Incoming (@auspahjussi) September 29, 2022
On the Disturbing Scale, this is one of the gentler images I could have chosen. You’re welcome.
These next two I adore for reasons I’m not sure I could explain outside of a therapy session.
I kid, I kid.
DALL·E 2 is just amazing
1. " 3D render of a robot with his child building a gaming pc "
2. " 3D render of a cat smoking on planet mars "#dalle2 pic.twitter.com/VACzzjKGpc— SStech ❂ (@sstech0) September 29, 2022
I signed up for the beta, and to create the image you see at the top of this column, I typed “A writer sitting at his computer in the style of film noir.” DALL-E was intelligent enough to know that film noir came to prominence before computers did, and stuck the writer in front of a typewriter instead. With a few tweaks — I haven’t played with the editor yet — I’m sure I could improve upon the writer’s face and left hand.
The question remains: Is it art?
No, I don’t believe it is.
Let me show you another one of the four images the AI produced from my film noir writer prompt.
What the hell? That looks like what might happen if I’d suggested that DALL-E show me what would happen if The Brood and The Fly (1986) director, David Cronenberg, did a film noir. That disturbing melding of face and machine… that is NOT what I asked for.
But DALL-E isn’t creative. It just has incredibly broad access to the creative work of human beings, and a rapid ability to kind of smudge it all together into something new.
As “intelligent” as DALL-E is, however, it still has no idea what it’s creating — it doesn’t know right or wrong. It knows only how to smudge.
Sometimes the result is breathtaking. Sometimes the result is too wrong to be salvageable.
But what it isn’t, is art.
If you’d like to give DALL-E a try, you can sign up here.
Recommended: Meet the New GOP: Younger, More Female, More Hispanic (and More Attractive, if You’ll Pardon Me)
Join the conversation as a VIP Member