I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.
I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated. Let me know what you think about them.
——
Butler E. Jones (ca. 1880-1961), interior decorator and house painter.
I’m with you on AI being a mixed bag and one which should be viewed and used with care, but I remember this gentleman and this feels on point—and mesmerizing to see the depth with which this recreation brought life back to that image.
Amazing! AI is now and the future. I believe it is very useful with the transparency you are providing so as to allow the viewer to be knowledgeable about when information and images have been enhanced artificially but still bring added value to our understanding of collective history.
Thank you! I was really torn about this, but was so struck by the enhancement that I thought — if handled properly — these images could be valuable.
I had the same misgivings about using AI to enhance photos. Although, I still keep the originals in my family trees and FB pages, I add that the “new” images were sharpened and colorized with AI. I, too, am currently fascinated with chatGPT!
I did have one funny thing happen. On one b&w photo, there are 7 siblings with one person kind of fading out of the photo. The resulting photo from chatGPT, ADDED an 8th sibling that truly looks like the family!!! LOL
When things go left, they go LEFT. LOL.
The Al picture is beautiful.