Google’s new AI tool uses image prompts instead of text
CNN
Google is trying new ways for people to play with artificial intelligence.
Google’s newest artificial intelligence tool, “Whisk,” lets people upload photos to get back a combined, AI-generated image – even without users inputting any text to explain what they want. Users can input images depicting subjects, setting and style before Whisk combines everything into one image. Whisk is a “creative tool” for quick inspiration, Google said in a blog post, as opposed to a “traditional image editor.” In essence, Whisk is intended as a fun AI feature, rather than as something that’s supposed to be refined professional work. Big Tech companies like Google and OpenAI are racing to release consumer products that can showcase uses for the snazzy new technology, even as naysayers warn that the lack of guardrails around the development of AI poses dangers for humanity. Since OpenAI initially launched its text-to-image creation tool, Dall-E, in 2021, the concept of AI-generated artwork has swamped social media and become a focus of consumer products. Google’s Whisk is an image-to-image generator, building upon the popular concept of text-to-image generators. People using Whisk can “remix” the final image by editing their inputs and mixing the categories to produce different images like a plushie toy, enamel pin or sticker. Users can add in text if they want to direct certain details, but it is not required to create an image.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will elevate Andrew Ferguson, a current Republican commissioner on the FTC, to be the agency’s chair. The decision will likely be welcome news for some businesses, but certainly not all, and least of all for Big Tech — whom Ferguson has sharply criticized and, in the case of Google, has gone to court against while serving as Virginia’s solicitor general.