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Robots that Paint Have Gotten Pretty Impressive (technologyreview.com)

Posted by msmash on from the marching-forward dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Of the 100 images submitted to the 2018 Robotart competition, an automaton called CloudPainter rose to the top, with evocative portraits featuring varying degrees of abstraction. One of its winning images was created by a team of neural networks, AI algorithms, and robots. Robotart's founder, Andrew Conru, told MIT Technology Review that this year's entries have shown refined brushstrokes and composition. "CloudPainter, the winner this year, has been involved all three years and has made the most improvement in his system," he says. "The resulting work, while it still uses an inputted photo as reference, can execute paintings using different painting styles."

31 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Oh. Never mind. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was hoping it was a robot that could paint my porch. Turns out that it's a robot that can make bad art.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Oh. Never mind. by swb · · Score: 2

      Was also hoping for a Roomba with a paintbrush.

    2. Re:Oh. Never mind. by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      Compare art by painter 1 with some by painter 2. Unless you take some strong drugs, there's no question which of them is better -- the other can be beaten by some bright kindergarten kids, some of their contemporaries get beaten by a chimp, yet get exhibited in major galleries for taxpayers' (ie, ours) money.

      Just think: how many millions would Picasso kill if he didn't get admitted to the art school?

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    3. Re:Oh. Never mind. by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but that robot is going to put a lot of people producing shitty modern art out of work. Maybe they can paint your porch.

    4. Re:Oh. Never mind. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but that robot is going to put a lot of people producing shitty modern art out of work.

      Hey, everybody's gotta eat. If someone can get people to pay them money to produce shitty modern art, what's the harm?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re: Oh. Never mind. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Instead of trying to 'technologize & monetize' everything under the sun, Silicon Valley should focus on the one thing we as a society clearly need: hovering drink holders.

    6. Re: Oh. Never mind. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      That's not hard to build.

      I'm willing to build you a custom one for cost + 20%.

      Please be advised that the price is directly related to the area about which the drink holder can hover; the cheapest option hovers in a fixed position over a pedestal, and only costs 4 figures.

      I can splatter some paint on it for free in an artistic way, but don't expect a Jackson Pollock.

    7. Re:Oh. Never mind. by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      If you take away the photograph that they're supposed to mimic, then the chimp wins every time.

    8. Re:Oh. Never mind. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      If they were willing to show up sober and on time every morning, they could already be doing work.

      Wait, you thought those shitty artists are getting paid?!?!? LMFAO

    9. Re:Oh. Never mind. by Alypius · · Score: 1

      That's called a Turtle and you can still play with it!

    10. Re:Oh. Never mind. by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      I work for a corrosion coatings company. Believe me, it's in the works.You might even say it's coming down the pipe.

    11. Re:Oh. Never mind. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Hey, everybody's gotta eat.

      'cept the robots.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    12. Re:Oh. Never mind. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      For one thing his eye for color was atrocious

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    13. Re:Oh. Never mind. by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      For one thing his eye for color was atrocious

      Well, yes. But just take a look at the other guy...

      Both are worse than a typical DeviantArt amateur. But only one has his paintings sold for millions. Picasso and his followers were masters of an art, though: the art of milking sponsors and taxpayers-paid organizations. Then you had masterpieces of that art such as selling a broken bicycle wheel, a picture filled with a single color, or an unmade bed.

      Hitler's paintings were not top-level art, but at least deserve to be called "art". On the other hand, "degenerate art" is pure swindle.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    14. Re:Oh. Never mind. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Picasso could do realism. Here is one from when he was a teenager. That might not be your thing, but if you do want to understand Picasso, a way to start is by examining the lines. See what is in there. That will lead to more understanding.

      Hitler's painting is realism, but he hasn't surpassed the level of Bob Ross, he uses a combination of colors, as if it had been assigned to him, without awareness of whether those colors would be appropriate or not. He doesn't have any understanding of the emotional impact of colors, or even an idea of how the eye works (even on an intuitive level). Because he doesn't understand the elements, he isn't able to combine them in any sort of compelling composition.

      As for "degenerate art", in the 50s and 60s a lot of it was made by people with a sense of humor, and if you look at it, it's actually hilarious. This point seems to be lost on artists of the last 20 years, and a lot of the lightness and interest is gone, it's just degenerate as you call it. But insisting on realism is missing a lot.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    15. Re:Oh. Never mind. by codeButcher · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but that robot is going to put a lot of people producing shitty modern art out of work. Maybe they can paint your porch.

      Hence, I predict that "robo-tard" (as opposed to the spelling in the article) will be come a word soon after.

      --
      Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    16. Re:Oh. Never mind. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      But I have often wondered if the later Picasso could still paint like younger Picasso if he had wanted to

      He almost certainly could have. His eye was clear, and his hand was steady. The shame is that he didn't continue his work on realism......he could have reached or surpassed the skill level of Monet, but he didn't.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  2. Robotart? by chinton · · Score: 1

    Wasn't that Pris' pre-release codename?

    1. Re:Robotart? by zlives · · Score: 1

      waiting for robot love

  3. Absolutely awful! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

    CloudPainter painted the worst clouds I've ever seen! ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  4. Start with classical paintings by religionofpeas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Instead of all the modern artsy-fartsy stuff, let's see a robot paint a decent classical portrait.

    1. Re:Start with classical paintings by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Went to link. No, they do not "seem to have done that". You are overly impressed.

  5. Re: Any dildo bots make the list...apk by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    Just wait till your "dildobot" catches a virus or gets hacked, and you have to overnight some RealCoin (that shit will be heavy) to a hacker somewhere, so that your robot - or the hacker - stops trying to assfuck you... at least at inopportune moments.

  6. Re:It's been impressive for awhile by zlives · · Score: 1

    yup next iteration of photo to sketch... not art

  7. Re:Journalists are annoying by zlives · · Score: 1

    "no one seem to understand the difference between intelligence and a stupid algorithm"

    probably for the same reason people can;t understand the difference between journalism and clickbait

  8. Re:Dot-Matrix Printer Malfunction by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

    Just because someone calls it 'art' doesn't meant it is art.

    Actually, if someone calls it art, then yes, it is art.

    Whether it is good art is another question.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  9. Robotart by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    I read that as "robo-tart", and immediately thought, "Yeah, sexbots should be getting pretty impressive by now!"

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  10. Eric Joyner Would be Proud by tmjva · · Score: 1

    https://ericjoyner.com/works/recaptcha/

    And do they paint donuts?

    --
    Tracy Johnson
    Old fashioned text games hosted below:
    http://empire.openmpe.com/
    BT
  11. Post Modernist by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

    No wonder they can do it. The lowest rung of art production.

    1. Re:Post Modernist by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      OK, I guess it might impress someone who likes motel lobby art.

  12. Re:Dot-Matrix Printer Malfunction by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

    Only in a degraded and essentially meaningless manner.