Using AI to Create Images of the Great African Seaforest
I decided to task an AI with generating images of the kelp forest. I was expecting some generic, even child-like representations. But to my astonishment, I received images so vivid, detailed, and breathtaking that, for a moment, I felt as if I was sitting next to the drawing board of one of my artistic heroes, Ernst Haeckel.
Prompting AI to create an underwater kelpforest.
The amount of creativity on display of this imaginary kelpforest is unbelievable. What is striking are the vibrant colours, the imaginary figureheads and the incredible detail of this picture. Even the most capable artist would sit for weeks creating this image. At the same time, the AI produced it in a mere 30 seconds.
The AI I was using to create this art was DALL-E, a project by Open AI, the same company that put Chat-GPT on the market. As a premium user for 20$ per month, anyone is capable of producing similar images.
Next, I continued giving prompts to DALL-E 3: “Can you make beautiful illustrations of the spiny starfish, Marthasterias glacialis?”
As you can see, the AI came up with wild designs of starfish, or sea stars how they are now called. However, the first thing I noticed it that these images are not accurate. Sea stars have five arms, not six or eight, like some of the specimens in these images. Clearly even the latest versions of AI, like the updated DALL-E, are still incapable of making scientifically accurate images. But this will surely be only a matter of time.
These creations are astonishing, there is no doubt. However, the real world is outside, not in a computer simulation. As much as we can marvel at the wonders of this planet in the virtual world, spending time outdoors will be infinitely more pleasing than being bound to a laptop lying in bed.
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