DALL-E 2 is a new AI system which can create original, realistic images and art from a text description in natural language.
Let me say that again: it creates original, realistic images and art from a text description.
DALL·E 2 image generated from text, 'a teddybear on a skateboard in times square'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
It was developed by OpenAI, an AI research and deployment company, whose mission is "to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."
DALL·E 2 image generated from, 'vibrant portrait painting of Salvador Dalà with a robotic half face'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
The DALL-E 2 system has learned the relationship between images and the text used to describe them. It uses a process called "diffusion," which starts with a pattern of random dots and gradually alters that pattern towards an image when it recognizes specific aspects of that image.
DALL·E 2 image generated from,'a dolphin in an astronaut suit on saturn, artstation'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
I'm breathless.
What's real? What's truth?
DALL·E 2 image generated from, 'a shiba inu wearing a beret and black turtleneck'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
"Seeing is believing?"- well, maybe not so much.
DALL·E 2 image generated from, 'a propaganda poster depicting a cat dressed as french emperor napoleon holding a piece of cheese'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
But who owns the copyright?
Well, the US Copyright Office has rejected a request to let an AI copyright a work of art, noting that the image didn't include an element of "human authorship" a necessary standard, it said, for protection.
In 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a copyright lawsuit brought by the famous selfie-taking monkey, noting that a non-human cannot own a copyright.
Macaca nigra self-portrait large.
(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Self-portrait by the depicted Macaca nigra female. See article.) Details Source DMCA
The Selfie-Taking Macaque Dispute:
British nature photographer David Slater engineered the situation that resulted in the selfie photos by travelling to Indonesia, befriending a group of wild macaques, and setting up his camera equipment in such a way that a "selfie" picture might come about.
When Slater published a book containing the photographs, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), brought a lawsuit on the macaque's behalf, arguing that the macaque should be assigned the copyright and that (naturally) PETA be appointed to administer proceeds from the photos. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against PETA, although the legal fees were costly for Slater and had a big impact on his life. However, Slater certainly fulfilled his intention to raise awareness of the critically endangered Celebes crested macaques, plus he may have the last laugh since Conde' Nast Entertainment has acquired the rights from him to make a documentary film related to the monkey selfie dispute.
DALL-E 2 is a research project, but you can get on the preview waitlist here.
DALL·E 2 image generated from,'panda mad scientist mixing sparkling chemicals, artstation'
(Image by DALL·E 2 AI) Details DMCA
Good to know:
OpenAI has taken steps to prevent harmful generations and curb misuse, noting, "We've limited the ability for DALL-E 2 to generate violent, hate, or adult images. By removing the most explicit content from the training data, we minimized DALL-E 2's exposure to these concepts. We also used advanced techniques to prevent photorealistic generations of real individuals' faces, including those of public figures. Our content policy does not allow users to generate violent, adult, or political content, among other categories. We won't generate images if our filters identify text prompts and image uploads that may violate our policies. We also have automated and human monitoring systems to guard against misuse."
And if you're interested, they're a San Francisco company, and they are hiring.
There's a good discussion going on about the DALL-E 2 system and how it might affect artists on James Gurney's blog (he's a fabulous artist and teacher, creator of Dinotopia), in fact, his blog is what tipped me off to this new development.