I don’t understand how you can do this and not feel horrible about it. But I guess not everyone cares as long as it might earn you a few dollars…
I don't understand why you think one should feel horrible about generating images in some visual styles. What's the problem?
Demonstrably, it's not something that's generally considered protected - it's not in the laws, and I've got this impression that the request of "$artist/$studio-style art" was generally considered socially acceptable. AFAIK it's also a part of academic courses, where artists practice various styles.
Patron requests, homages, pastiches - all this stuff existed for a long while and was generally accepted (or so I think), the only difference is that a machine does it now, incredibly fast and cheap. People used to hire artists for this kind of stuff since times immemorial. Nowadays, if a machine can do a passable job, then why waste human's most valuable resource (time) for it.
It would be interesting is to hear Studio Ghibli's opinion on the matter. Not someone who thinks they might be wronged somehow (no offense meant, I do not intend to invalidate your opinion) or someone who rather thinks they might be even benefiting from this - I'm sure it's likely to be a multiple-edged sword, as life is rarely simple - but their own actual thoughts on the subject. I wonder if they already published something...
1. https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/hayao-miyazaki-ar...
I have watched the video but, sadly, it seems to be on a merely tangentially related subject (some zombie ragdoll movement), that caused an understandable disgust (as explained in the video). Then there was a comment about the desire to create a machine that can draw pictures - and I’m really not sure how that’s connected to anything that happened in the video.
The only thing I was able to extract from it is general disapproval, but that’s about all I can be sure of. Better than nothing but not something I was hoping for.
Upd: oh, I haven’t noticed this immediately, but it’s a 9-year old video. I was hoping for something more up-to-date, as a lot of things had happened since then.
He was talking about how an AI generated gruesome animation made him think of his friend awfully struggling with a disability. That people who create that kind of stuff don't understand pain and suffering.
The full quote: "Every morning, not in recent days, I see my friend who has a disability,” he said. “It’s so hard for him just to do a high five; his arm with stiff muscle can’t reach out to my hand. Now, thinking of him, I can’t watch this stuff and find it interesting.
Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself”
As for the project: it's nice and easy, likely will be replicated soon.
Sam Altman is also a little bitch for taunting people like that through his business ventures. First that Her actress’ voice and now this.
> When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names.
I'd like to see what a real physical book looks like before I buy it though. Do you have real pictures of a printed one?
I think our kids would appreciate seeing the original (even if a small thumbnail) along side it. You can't always tell from these AI drawings that it was originally you and your family.
Also, it's REALLY expensive. $30 for a book that my kids will draw on in one or two nights and then never touch again is probably too much.
$24 + postage is the lowest I could reasonably charge for this. Printing costs are a bit more than half of that, OpenAI charge a surprising amount for image generation, but there is also a good amount of human effort (and creative choices) in generating the book. It's not a fully automated process and I hope that's evident from the quality of the end product.
Maybe worth trying to train a better style for this. This is probably something where you could put a little effort in up-front (ie: using a model that's for segmentation to get outlines, using some classic image-processing for boundary detection) and then have AI touch it up a little more lightly and a less of the "default" style.
Also, do you have AI images for the "real world" samples on the left? They have a certain "I don't exactly know what, but it's creeping me out" vibe.
I think the Ghiblipocalypse has gotten people on edge.
Not that I wouldn't similarly expect it from Miyazaki in terms of general generative art but the actual source of all the articles/memes about his quote point to a 2016 video where he's being demo'd a disturbing 3D simulation of an oily looking human figure crawling on the ground by its head while the dev explains to Miyazaki and others that 'it feels no pain so it learned to move by its head' and it could be used for horror games.
It's then that Miyazaki expresses the 'insult to life itself' quote and explains the devs have no idea what human pain is. Makes one wonder how the devs thought the reaction would be any different tbh.
Edit: reading that he clarified in an interview[1] a couple years later that his distaste was due to believing the dev was aiming at humorizing such body contortions of realistic humans which he took issue with.
Miyazaki also said (in response to the Charlie Hebdo murders): "For me, I think it's a mistake to make caricatures of what different cultures worship. It's a good idea to stop doing that." I still love the man and his work, but he's not some infallible authority on what is and isn't appropriate in art.
> Miyazaki was shown an AI-generated character. The character was a scary monster that used its head as a leg because it couldn’t feel pain. The person presenting it said its movements could be used in making a zombie video game.
To which he stated:
> Every morning, not in recent days, I see my friend who has a disability. It’s so hard for him just to do a high five; his arm with stiff muscle can’t reach out to my hand. Now, thinking of him, I can’t watch this stuff and find it interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is. I’m utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.
Here's some generic cartoon styles to look at: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5f/04/ef/5f04ef77ce3beb272a61...
The cartoon owl at the top has a different vibe and would probably work for the comics as well.
> Make this a page in a colouring book. The drawing is in a simple Studio Ghibli portrait style. Bleed all the way to the edges. Background colour is #ffffff and lines are bold and #000000. There is no shading or crossthatching.
> Please only upload photos that are in line with OpenAI's Usage Policy.
> We are not able to include any photos that do not follow their policy in the final printed book.
from openai.com/policies > Editing uploaded images or videos that contain real people under the age of 18 is not permitted.
The first two sample pictures on the page contain of adolescent children. Are you concerned about this apparent contradiction?I put that line about OpenAI's usage policy there for practical reasons. If someone orders something that OpenAI refuses to generate (like a photo of Bart Simpson say), then I can't include it in the printed book. With this project, if someone uploads content that's in any way inappropriate, we'll see it and refuse to fulfill the order (and take other appropriate actions, if needed)
It seems the loophole on this site, is the examples (by my best guess) are AI.
> Generate a version of this photo that can be used as a coloring sheet
> Make this a page in a colouring book. The drawing is in a simple Studio Ghibli portrait style. Bleed all the way to the edges. Background colour is #ffffff and lines are bold and #000000. There is no shading or crossthatching.
No artists are losing income because of this and no industry is being upended. This is a new product that's available because of a technology advanced.
Why the focus the artist? Everytime you order in food online you take away a tip from a host, server, bartender and take away a job from a person who answers a phone. Why focus on artists when so many have been affected by technology.
https://www.poplocal.com.au/product/bum-man-colouring-book/
He's 'Bum Man'. A man (actually it's asexual) who is a bum. I mean c'mon.
This is how art works and has always worked. Artist should be using the same AI tools that the general public use but create things that the general public cannot. That’s what artists have always done.
Any attempt to compare the A.I. stuff to some analogous scenario is deeply flawed if it does not include 1) that A.I. instances are not humans, but computers run by companies, and 2) the incredible scale at which it can operate.
The actual actions taking place are secondary at best, and the situation cannot be judged on that alone. It must be debated in the context of the actions being undertaken by machines, owned by companies, motivated by profit/market share/growth/whatever, with little communication or collaboration with the humans who created the works, and that they can now generate outputs based on those works at a scale, frequency, level of precision several orders of magnitude higher than a human can ever compete with. It cannot be compared to any sort of person-to-person scenario. The enormous scale this operates at, by actors that are not human, is the core of the situation.
Running a restaurant is a trillion other things. Ordering the right amount of ingredients. Hiring, training, and keeping staff. Cleaning the bathrooms. Replacing stolen silverware.
You're not paying for the secret recipe. There isn't one. You're paying for the insane amount of work that goes into putting cooked food on a plate.
Images are much more about the specific process that went into creation. The intellectual part that can be taken is a much higher fraction of the product.
It's about applying your outrage evenly. Why put artists over a servers? Why do you drive when not using horses means many blacksmiths positions disappear. Technology that is accepted by society changes society. Artists will continue to evolve and create messages about those changes. No need to worry about their plight. Worry about translators or other industries that can't easily provide the same value. Artists are the one group who will survive and thrive.
I reached out to multiple artists, and got one image back (from a good friend). I gave up on commissioning actual artists, and traced the images myself on a tablet. I imagine someone with the right knowledge of where to find artists and the willingness to wait on their schedule could have done it faster, but I'd have used this service if it had been around.
The intention and cost of something like that is not at all comparable to what is being offered here.
And by all I mean the AI companies owe a huge debt to all humans who wrote or designed or drew anything. The vast majority of the benefit of this technology relies on volume: the billions of pages and lines of code we wrote for other humans, but have now been repurposed. This technology relies on bulk, which was mainly unprofessional or freely given content, by those who intended it for other humans. It was not 100% built only on the output of the few who charge for their exquisite words or designs, even if their output is higher quality.
Alternatively, let the AI companies go for it but everyone who uses any kind of AI should understand that they’re standing on the shoulders of the millions of developers and nonprofessional writers whose work has now been repurposed. Not the few artists and journalists. So those artists and journalists should both refuse to contribute to, and use, AI.
* I’ve written very little of this useful content, but would be happy to pay my share to those that have built what we have. I also turn off training on my content, but I pay a lot for models. Feel free to help me think through this with comments of your own.
There is certainly a contribution in improving how the body of work is represented but we treat the “AI” as the smarts, when really it’s a lens on the collective knowledge we have built. You can make the lens better, bit not claim ownership of the body of work. Right now that’s what’s happening, with a few edge cases for artists and publishers.
Almost nobody is paying $100 or more for a custom 5-page coloring book.
This service isn’t taking work from human artists.
Cool idea. I can see keeping colored pages of these by my kids up on the fridge a lot longer than what’s on there now!
I guess what you see as “stealing” I see as inspiration. I also believe that there will be artists who use these new artistic image generation models in ways that are new and interesting just like the first person who used spray paint for graffiti was ripped off by everyone else.
It delighted my kids to see themselves depicted in coloring sheets in situation where they are currently interested. There is no world where I would have paid an artist to make these photos, and we would have just colored on blank paper.
Again, I get that real people’s content was devoured by these big companies, but at the same time I am much more concerned about bigger issues and would rather focus on getting ahead of AI rather than fighting it.
Some of these replies seem rather dismissive to the artists’ plight.
You can see where this is going, right? In the end, humanity and even artists will be fine overall, even if the world changes.
for the cost of showing ads?
Artists have been around and existed in more repressive societies throughout time. The best art is usually produced from the greatest struggle. Artists will engage and create art in this new world. The cost of not providing a new surface for artists to explore is what kills art.
Everyone and their mother are trying to hop on the band wagon of AI and make a half assed service just because it may sell just due to the "ai" tag attached to it - this is different!
Chapeau bas! It's simple but brilliant. It's a great example of what a good idea is - with minimal effort he made an epic product focusing not an AI, but what AI can bring to the table and executing it flawlessly. Hats off!
Also, I mean, I know a lot of people don’t care about the whole “A.I. vs. artists” thing, but it should absolutely not be difficult to understand why many do. We are talking about a fast-growing technology and industry that will perhaps decimate jobs and entire professions, that will definitely reduce the value of certain things to zero, and while that will be good for some things, it is concerning for many that one of the first things being seriously threatened is art—something generally thought to be a deeply human ability, and a profession already notoriously difficult to earn a living at. For a lot of people this is existential. This guy’s little coloring book project is not the problem, but it‘s still a small facet of the larger issue, and being concerned about that issue is very valid, and anyone with perspective and a modicum of empathy should be able to understand it.
I would like to know the cost of the tokens you are paying for an image. How many pages coloring book will be created against $24 book?
OpenAI costs are surprisingly expensive. It's about $7 to generate a whole book (24 pages). There are 8-24 images allowed in a book, with a cover too. So there'll be 48 max pages in a book (incl blank pages).
Love the idea! Good luck.
Great idea to turn your own photos into a coloring book generator!
Edit: I wonder how you prevent it from generating copyrighted content when people upload e.g. 'photos' of Disney content? Or has that not been a problem yet?
Same question would be relevant if you wouldn't have used AI to generate these outlines, of course.
I just want to point out there is a certain irony of the "cut the branch you are sitting on"-kind here.
Edit: typo
I have some kids that still color, and it would be great to keep something in my pocket to give them quick with a crayon or pen.
I'd use this at @ $10 price point if I'm able get downloadable a4 coloring pages from a picture. It would be great. Also this way your customer base becomes international.
$10 for 20 pictures is a good price point for me. Pretty expensive but I'd still go for it.
Edit: I've implemented this! It's a lot of code changes so I hope I didn't break anything.
But this makes me wonder: What is the barrier to entry for these apps now? Anyone can do it. There is going to be a barrage of apps/websites like this?
* one full PDF (including cover) of an example book.
* don't use AI images as examples - it's not obvious if the outline version will look as good on real images.
I didn't add a PDF but I added some photos of the real end product to the bottom of the landing page now.
Your step 2 is wrong :-) > Step 2: We convert them into a high-quality physical coloring book with OpenAI’s brand-new Sora model, then send it out for printing.
You don't convert it into a physical book /before/ sending it for printing.
Pricing is quite high - 24 pages maximum for $23.99. There are 100-page coloring books on Amazon for $5.00, and the age group that really would be using this is not going to remember what was on the page a week from the day they did it.
Maybe it can work in the nice of "adult coloring books" - I've seen some social media content where people really go crazy on coloring books, and being able to get nice physical copy to work off could appeal there.
I always use LLMs for meta-prompting. They know themselves better than others :>
We recently created one too, where you get a printable version: dibulo.com/editor - the next step will be to bring the templates to life again.
No worries, just wondering how that should work.
I pretty much just assumed they're all in the public domain. I can't find the image anymore so I've decided to remove it for now. I generated the other three myself.
Things like your coloring book, instant sticker/tshirt/swag creation, video game assets, etc.
Also love the "tap 5 times for a discount" feature.
I wonder if printing services (Lulu?) have a automatic API or if it requires some manual intervention? (And the shipping part?)
I was very excited when it came out. Google have Imagen 3 (is that the same as Gemini Flash?), but you need special access to be able to edit images. I haven't tested it yet but I think it's a lot cheaper than OpenAI
Also, I request you to expand further, why Gemini is not better?
site is not really ready for this, but if you want to get an idea go here https://d2uua1ig5ocnwt.cloudfront.net/ and search these:
amber ladybugs north
I manually remove failed gens, but the proces doens't scale to where I'd like if I have to manually verify images. and I have to have a few automatic rejection in the pipeline, like top border not white or image not squared.
Sora: https://clevercoloringbook.com/samples/3_cartoon.png
I've had this idea years ago and searched extensively for a way to turn images into nice line art, but it turns out there needs to be a good bit of creativity (AI) to do so. Old school computer science techniques don't cut it.
Demo: https://v0-story-maker.vercel.app/
The chat: https://v0.dev/chat/ai-story-book-creator-zw7TrmkN2Eb
User: Previous page prompt: [Previous Prompt 1]
User: [Image 1]
Assistant: I've received this image and will maintain visual consistency with it.
User: Previous page prompt: [Previous Prompt 2]
User: [Image 2]
Assistant: I've received this image and will maintain visual consistency with it.
User: Previous page prompt: [Previous Prompt 3]
User: [Image 3]
Assistant: I've received this image and will maintain visual consistency with it.
User: Please maintain character appearance, art style, and color palette consistency with these previous illustrations when creating the next image.
Assistant: I'll ensure the characters, art style, and colors remain consistent with the previous illustrations.
User: Generate an illustration for a children's ABC story: [Current Prompt]. Make it colorful, child-friendly, and in a consistent style with any previous images. Include diverse characters with different ethnicities, genders, and abilities. Ensure representation is natural and authentic.
I'm curious: did you settle on this after trial and error? I mean, did having the assistant explicitly agree increase consistency, compared with just asking nicely at the end?I noticed it wasn’t passing the image back and forth so I asked it to, and it wrote that prompting
How much does the api cost to run? Do you have any safe guards in place in case bots try to build 1000 stories?
I’m just using Geminis rate limits, because its pretty ridiculously cheap. You can get pretty far on just their free tier last I checked (when I made this the image model was 100% free)
I wrote about it a little bit here: https://x.com/max_leiter/status/1906492622551884187