Features

Veni, vidi, vici: The cobots are here

A handful of emperors show us just how AI is going to change our world.

13 October 2020

I'm a little bit of a history nerd, currently trawling through some light education about the Romans. So imagine my delight when images from the Roman Emperor Project appeared: these are life-like photos of most of the Roman Emperors, modelled from what visual information we have, and the results are awe-inspiring.

Renders of the emperors have been made before, so why is this batch unique? Not only are they the result of a human/ machine collaboration – collaborative intelligence or 'CQ' – but they weren't made in some expensive lab or flagship AI project. They are the work of one guy who could access a free online image manipulation AI. Between designer Daniel Voshart and Artbreeder.com, we can now see some of the Mediterranean's greatest (and worst) rulers in flesh and blood.

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