Club Meeting, A.I. in Photography - Tuesday 20th February 2024.
On Tuesday 20th February, Morpeth Camera Club welcomed guest speaker Phil Robson from Ponteland Photographic
Society who gave a presentation entitled ‘Images from Words – Artificial Intelligence in Photography’. During the last
few years some tools used in photo editing have used artificial intelligence (AI) in tasks such as noise reduction, the
removal of defects and sharpening images. This is, however just the tip of the iceberg, it is now possible to use A.I.
in many different applications, one of these is to generate images by using words to describe what you would like
to see created.
Phil opened the evening by stating that his presentation aimed to inform and stimulate thought and discussion. A.I.
is a very emotive subject and not just about photography, and although he had a background in computing, he was
not A.I. trained, and his interest in the subject stemmed from his curiosity and findings. He explained that this type
of A.I. is a text-to-image neural network, and that deep neural networks use learning algorithms to process images.
With many software programmes on the market, he had chosen 'Mid-View' for his project and he briefly outlined
how he had asked himself, what if the famous writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens had access to A.I.
Phil then explained how he put this idea into practice before demonstrating his skills with this computer programme,
Live, in front of a fascinated audience. Using literature from these authors, with actual descriptions of characters
from the books, he added keywords, and within a minute, amazing A.I. generated images appeared of Oliver Twist,
Fagan, The Artful Dodger, Scrooge, Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes.
This was compelling viewing as each image appeared on the large screen. Phil again showed how to further alter
the results by changing words to get a different style of image. Moving on he showed examples of A.I. generated
landscapes, painting effects, weather conditions, animals and total fantasy scenarios. He then invited members to
join in and shout out ideas to demonstrate the creation of images from their words. Members duly responded with
suggestions and descriptions of local places, landmarks, light conditions and random objects, with the generated
images appearing on the screen in seconds.
This was a fun evening and something totally different at Morpeth Camera Club. It prompted a huge question and
answer session and was followed by great discussion over tea and coffee afterwards. Obviously, this kind of work
could not be used in competitions but as a distraction from the norm, it was an entertaining presentation and our
thanks go to Phil Robson for an excellent evening.
Davy.
Society who gave a presentation entitled ‘Images from Words – Artificial Intelligence in Photography’. During the last
few years some tools used in photo editing have used artificial intelligence (AI) in tasks such as noise reduction, the
removal of defects and sharpening images. This is, however just the tip of the iceberg, it is now possible to use A.I.
in many different applications, one of these is to generate images by using words to describe what you would like
to see created.
Phil opened the evening by stating that his presentation aimed to inform and stimulate thought and discussion. A.I.
is a very emotive subject and not just about photography, and although he had a background in computing, he was
not A.I. trained, and his interest in the subject stemmed from his curiosity and findings. He explained that this type
of A.I. is a text-to-image neural network, and that deep neural networks use learning algorithms to process images.
With many software programmes on the market, he had chosen 'Mid-View' for his project and he briefly outlined
how he had asked himself, what if the famous writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens had access to A.I.
Phil then explained how he put this idea into practice before demonstrating his skills with this computer programme,
Live, in front of a fascinated audience. Using literature from these authors, with actual descriptions of characters
from the books, he added keywords, and within a minute, amazing A.I. generated images appeared of Oliver Twist,
Fagan, The Artful Dodger, Scrooge, Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes.
This was compelling viewing as each image appeared on the large screen. Phil again showed how to further alter
the results by changing words to get a different style of image. Moving on he showed examples of A.I. generated
landscapes, painting effects, weather conditions, animals and total fantasy scenarios. He then invited members to
join in and shout out ideas to demonstrate the creation of images from their words. Members duly responded with
suggestions and descriptions of local places, landmarks, light conditions and random objects, with the generated
images appearing on the screen in seconds.
This was a fun evening and something totally different at Morpeth Camera Club. It prompted a huge question and
answer session and was followed by great discussion over tea and coffee afterwards. Obviously, this kind of work
could not be used in competitions but as a distraction from the norm, it was an entertaining presentation and our
thanks go to Phil Robson for an excellent evening.
Davy.