|
Picsart. Growing that picture pie – again. Remember the days we all said that the quality of smartphone photos wasn't that impressive and complained that a much smaller % of smartphone photos was being printed compared to camera photos?
But it turned out that smartphone cameras led to a dramatic increase of photos being taken, which more than compensated for the declining share that ended up in print.
Fast forward to generative AI. While it’s too early to tell whether the prediction that as much as 90% of online content may be synthetically generated by 2026, the writing is on the wall: AI-generated images will dramatically grow that pie of pictures that can be shared digitally or turned into print products.
Case in point: A month after Picsart launched its generative AI features last year, the company reported a run rate of 1M.
A gimmick that would sizzle? Think again! By now Picsart’s generative AI features have created half a billion images and are at a run rate of 2M a day.
Google. Steg & Imatag, here we come. Google DeepMind announces SynthID, a tool to embed watermarks in AI-generated images (for now limited to those created with Google’s own Imagen image generator tool). The watermarks are invisible to humans but detectable by DeepMind’s tools.
Like last year's Visual 1st presenter, Steg, and Imatag, which both offer invisible watermark creation tools, Google says SynthID should be more effective than traditional watermarks, which are more easily removed, cropped out, or are an eyesore on an image. The SynthID watermark should remain visible even after filters are added, colors are changed, or an image is resized.
Snapchat. Remini, here we come. Snapchat announces Dreams, a generative AI feature that lets you take or upload selfies that will trigger the app to generate new pictures of you in various scenarios you could imagine.
Reminiscent of the Remini's AI Photos feature – Remini has become a big hit when users discovered they can also upload their selfies in order to receive professional-looking headshots for LinkedIn without having to pay for a pro photo shoot – Dreams takes the more imaginative route by generating AI selfies that put you in “fantastical places and scenarios.”
Ideogram. Midjourney, here we come. Freshly infused with $16M from an impressive list of investors led by a16z and Index Ventures, Ideogram aims to take the text-to-image generative AI use case to the next level.
Users can choose different styles that will help the prompt, such as photo, cinematic, painting, 3d render, fashion, portrait photography, wildlife photography, and architecture. For now Ideogram’s differentiation is its high-quality in-image text generation, but given that its founding team consists of folks who have previously led AI projects at Google Brain, UC Berkeley, and the University of Toronto, I expect there will be much more to come.
BeReal. Tiptoeing from private into social. As sharing a random moment with your friends day after day loses steam – and virality – BeReal is now introducing a Friends of Friends feed, through which you can see what your friends’ friends are up to.
Users can toggle whether they want to share with friends of friends, or just friends. As a viewer you can remove an individual from your friends of friends feed if you don’t want to see their posts, while there’s also a block function if you don’t want to see or be seen by someone altogether.
EyeQ. AI Skin Tone Accuracy 2.0. For decades, cameras have struggled with capturing infrared and inaccurate color in skin tones, leading to marginalized experiences, particularly for individuals with dark skin tones.
If cameras keep struggling, how about correcting things in post? Come to the rescue: EyeQ’s latest version of AI Skin Tone Accuracy, part of the company’s Perfectly Clear's core image correction, which aims to generate natural, accurate color representation across all skin tones, regardless of shade or ethnicity.
OutSnapped. Photo booth tech going AI. OutSnapped, a physical and digital photo booth company, launched its AI photo booth technology, which generates hyper-realistic imagery from just a single photo, placing the subject in any setting — from joyfully riding a horse on a beach in Bali to powerfully addressing a boardroom in an outfit that radiates confidence. The AI photo booth works both as a physical installation and on personal devices.
| 
