I'm Utilizing Image Playground and Pixel Studio for Creating the Least Effort Holiday Greetings
I'm Utilizing Image Playground and Pixel Studio for Creating the Least Effort Holiday Greetings
I didn't have time to organize a family photoshoot this year. Originally, we planned to wear tracksuits and pose in front of my car in a squatting position, paying homage to my Balkan ancestors. However, nobody seems enthusiastic about it this year. Instead, I might delegate my holiday greetings to advanced technology and distant liquid-cooled data centers. I can show my affection towards loved ones through some AI-generated messages.
Google and Apple both highlighted the importance of on-device AI in their flagship devices this year. Google was the first to promote its potential and pushed the idea that Gemini was the future of Android. Then, Pixel Art Workshop was introduced on the Pixel 9 phone, enabling users to create images with various art styles and make them look as if they've been edited in Adobe Photoshop. It performs relatively well with regular text generation, but its performance suffers when you deviate from the script.
Apple launched iOS 18.2 with the Photo Manipulation Tool for the iPhone 16. This offering from Apple is its attempt at generative AI, similar to what other companies have offered. The app generates images according to Apple's preferred art style, excelling at producing images of people, particularly their faces, when loaded into Apple Photos. The app allows you to select the people you care about and set their photos as inspiration. From there, you can add background details, adjust clothing options, and fine-tune facial features as required.
Instead of a traditional family photoshoot, I used Google's Pixel Art Workshop and Apple's Photo Manipulation Tool to create the artwork for my annual holiday newsletter. I'm skeptical whether it can fully replace the real photoshoot. We've heard a lot about these image-generating tools all year from Google and Apple. Why not give it a try in a pinch?
Photo Manipulation Tool: Use it for faces
Interestingly, Apple's Intelligence Software, released later in the year, proved to be more adept at human likeness than Google's Pixel Art Workshop. According to a support page provided by Google, they are currently working on the ability to create human images and edit existing images with people. For now, Apple takes the lead since I can generate an image of my family without physically being in front of a camera. However, its drawback is that it can only process one face at a time.
Prior to the rollout of iOS 18.2, I had an opportunity to test out the Photo Manipulation Tool. This experience taught me to start with a few variables and then gradually build upon them. I selected the pre-filled offering for "winter holidays" and let the AI do its job. To make the changes, I asked it to swap her eyes to blue, which matches her real-life appearance. I should point out that this image is synthetic, but the likeness remains. I then requested a scarf to complete the winter scene.
I shared my thoughts with my husband about the accuracy of the Photo Manipulation Tool picture. He commented, "It's quite cute. It looks like her." Although the AI sometimes struggles with the mouth area in most images, they are generally acceptable. However, I wouldn't recommend zooming in too close, as the AI's interpretation of her teeth could be a tad unsettling. In one picture, it appears as if she lacks teeth. The AI also sometimes had trouble materializing her eyes in various pictures, and I noticed this was a common issue for all the images generated by the Photo Manipulation Tool of specific people.
One advantage of the Photo Manipulation Tool is its categorization of your image prompt phrases, allowing you to add and remove them as needed. I opted to stick with "winter holidays" + "scarf" and then added "Santa hat" to generate more Christmas cheer.
My experience with the snowpeople sculptures generated in the background of my images was less satisfying. The Photo Manipulation Tool does an adequate job of creating a basic snowman, but when it comes to incorporating the snowman into the background, it seems to struggle. In most instances, the snowman is missing essential features, such as a face.
The Photo Manipulation Tool falls short when it comes to generating text within an image. It failed every time I asked for a tailored message. I attempted several times to produce something suitable for social media, but most of what the Photo Manipulation Tool delivered appeared as if it were taken straight from the article's title section.
Pixel Art Workshop: Use it for stickers
Pixel Art Workshop is more suitable for creating less-obvious art that remains artificially generated. The app can't create an image of a human likeness just yet, so your options are limited to whatever the app provides initially. Currently, the app offers helpful prompts such as "cats," "dogs," and "Christmas tree inspiration."
Pixel Studio's ability to create a pet-centric artwork could be beneficial if you have a pet at home to serve as the piece's main subject. My cat, sadly, has been gone for five long years, but its memory lives on in my heart (and in a box on top of the fireplace mantel). I asked Pixel Studio to create a "sleepy tuxedo cat with green eyes and a pink nose, wearing a Santa hat." The background was a festive Christmas scene, and the text at the bottom spelled out "Catmas." I must admit, I was taken aback by how accurately it was depicted.
I decided to test this out with Apple Intelligence's Image Playground as well. To my disappointment, the entire detailed description I provided for Pixel Studio did not fit inside Image Playground's image description prompt. It only accepted the part up until "There’s a Christmas scene behind them." I added a request for the text "Catmas" at the bottom but was informed that it was an unsupported feature. Despite this, it managed to generate a black and white tuxedo cat in a Santa hat, complete with a real tuxedo. The Pixel Studio, however, successfully rendered the cat's likeness and managed to include the "Catmas" text.
Regarding holiday-themed stickers in various languages, I attempted to use Pixel Studio, but it struggled with Romanian phrases. While it could correctly parse "feliz navidad," which means "Happy Christmas" in Spanish and the title of a famous holiday song, it failed to accurately render Romanian phrases. In some cases, it seemed to be trying to incorporate Cyrillic characters, which are used in Russian and Greek languages, along with Slavic accent points.
Apple Intelligence shone the most when creating a manufactured holiday experience, as it generated my family's likeness without overstepping into the terrifying "uncanny valley." Despite the presence of several AI artifacts, the image remained passable due to its caricature-like appearance. If you look for something specific, such as people or more detailed features, Pixel Studio may serve you better. It isn't perfect when it comes to generating text, but it can handle common holiday phrases, like "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas," quite well.
In conclusion, both Image Playground and Pixel Studio's interpretations of the holiday season had room for improvement due to the "uncanny valley effect." I'm eager to share this experience with friends and family and receive their thoughts on the AI-generated artwork serving as a replacement for our traditional Christmas photo shoot. I'll be sure to update you on their feedback.
(Paraphrased from: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/12/creating-ai-generated-family-christmas-card-unicanny-valley-effect/)
In the future, tech giants like Google and Apple might rely more on advanced AI and tech to create engaging features for their devices. For instance, Google introduced Pixel Art Workshop on the Pixel 9, allowing users to create art with various styles. Similarly, Apple launched the Photo Manipulation Tool on the iPhone 16, enabling users to generate images with a preferred art style.
Despite its limitations, such as struggling with the mouth area and interpreting human teeth, the Photo Manipulation Tool has become an interesting alternative for some people, especially for creating holiday-themed images. Users can manipulate various elements, including changing eye colors or adding accessories, to create synthetic yet recognizable images of their loved ones.