How to Use A.I. to Edit and Generate Photos
In last week’s newsletter,
I shared the golden prompts for getting the most helpful answers from chatbots like
ChatGPT, Bing and Bard. Now that you’re familiar with the general principle of
building a relationship with A.I. — the more specific and detailed instructions
you give, the better results you’ll get — let’s move on to a slightly different
realm.
Much of the hype and fears
around generative A.I. has been about text. But there have also been rapid and
dramatic developments in systems that can generate images. In many cases, these
share a similar structure to text-based generative A.I., but they can also be
much weirder — and lend themselves to some very fun creative pursuits.
Image
generators are trained on billions of images, which enable them to produce new
creations that were once the sole dominion of painters and other artists.
Sometimes experts can’t tell the difference between A.I.-created images and
actual photographs (a circumstance that has fueled dangerous
misinformation campaigns in addition to fun creations). And these tools are
already changing the way that creative professionals do their jobs.
Compared to products like
ChatGPT, image generating A.I. tools are not as well developed. They require
jumping through a few more hoops, and may cost a bit of money. But if you’re
interested in learning the ropes there’s no better time to start.
A.I. Photoshop
Last week, Adobe added a
generative A.I. feature into a beta version of Photoshop, its iconic graphics
software, and creators on social networks like TikTok and Instagram have been
buzzing about it ever since.
A New Generation of Chatbots
A brave new world. A new crop of
chatbots powered by artificial intelligence has ignited a scramble to
determine whether the technology could upend the economics of the internet,
turning today’s powerhouses into has-beens and creating the industry’s next
giants. Here are the bots to know:
ChatGPT. ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence language model from a research lab,
OpenAI, has been making headlines since November for its ability to respond to
complex questions, write poetry, generate code, plan vacations and translate languages.
GPT-4, the latest version introduced in mid-March, can even respond to images (and ace the
Uniform Bar Exam).
Bing. Two months after ChatGPT’s debut, Microsoft, OpenAI’s primary investor
and partner, added a similar chatbot, capable of having
open-ended text conversations on virtually any topic, to its Bing internet
search engine. But it was the bot’s occasionally inaccurate, misleading
and weird responses that drew much of the
attention after its release.
Bard. Google’s chatbot, called Bard, was released in March to a limited number of
users in the United States and Britain. Originally conceived as a creative
tool designed to draft emails and poems, it can generate ideas, write blog
posts and answer questions with facts or opinions.
Ernie. The search giant Baidu unveiled China’s first major rival to ChatGPT in March. The debut of Ernie, short for Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration, turned out to be a flop after a promised “live” demonstration of the bot was revealed to have been recorded.
I have a fair amount of
experience with Photoshop. When I tested the new feature, called “generative
fill,” I was impressed with how quickly and competently the A.I. carried out
tasks that would have taken me at least an hour to do on my own. In less than five
minutes and with only a few clicks, I used the feature to remove objects, add
objects and swap backgrounds.
(To
experiment with these tools yourself, start by signing up for a free trial
of Adobe Creative Suite. Then, install the new Adobe
Photoshop beta, which includes generative fill.)
- To change a background,
click the “object selection” icon (it has an arrow pointed at a box), then
under the Select menu, click “inverse” to select the background. Next
click the “generative fill” box and type in a prompt — or leave it blank
to let Photoshop come up with a new background concept for you.
I used these steps to edit a photo of my corgi, Max. I typed “kennel” for the prompt, and clicked “generate" to replace the background. Here’s the before (left) and after.
- To remove objects, use the lasso tool. In this photo of my motorcycle, I wanted to erase a tractor behind a fence in the background. I traced around the tractor, and then I clicked the “generative fill” box and hit “generate” without entering a prompt. The software correctly removed the tractor and filled in the background while leaving the fence intact.
