Closer

A weekly newsletter where I take one of my photos, ask AI to describe it, then see what kind of image it can generate from its own description—an ongoing experiment in the capabilities of AI, and what that means for humans. Human experience → photo → AI interpretation → synthetic image.

Closer #012 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

Imagine a cat behind a closed door, only paws and nose peeking from under the small crack between the door and the floor. Now imagine it again. How different are those results? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

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Closer #011 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

We all know things can get weird in AI image land. But what if you give it a weird image? Will we get twice the weirdness or will they balance each other out?

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Closer #009 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

Learning that it's the imperfections of our actions causing things to feel real is one of this week's biggest take-aways. And that's something I think we should ponder on for some time.

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Closer #007 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

Not to ruffle someone's feathers but a little birdie told me to continue this newsletter until the pecking order between us, beautifully flawed and inherently creative humans, and AI, the ever logical mimicker of life, has been determined. Who comes out on top this week?

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Closer #006 a self portrait of a man in a broken mirror

By popular demand, ChatGPT gets pushed aside to give Midjourney its chance to shine. This is also the first time I'm using a self portrait as the base image. What do I look like according to AI?

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Closer #005 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

What happens when an image is described super accurately, to the point that you can picture the thing in your mind with ease? Does AI have the same skills?

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Closer #004 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

On the surface, things seem to be looking good. But look more closely, and you'll find that fiction is, thankfully, still stranger than reality.

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Closer #003 The image shared with ChatGPT as input.

I purposely chose to share a relatively complex black and white image with ChatGPT for this week's entry. Lots of layers and many things going on in the frame. The black and white edit also provides the AI with less context. How does it perform?

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Closer #001

A surprising start to this new experiment. Using one of my favorite portfolio images from 2023, ChatGPT both accurately describes as well as impressively generates an image based on my original work.

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