There’s one thing I haven’t cracked yet - and that is why ChatGPT and DALL-E can’t scrutinise their own work.
Here’s what I mean.
I wanted to create a realistic image of a cup of coffee, to use as a logo for Management Café. The Virtual not Distant website has a new look, which integrates my own cartoons into images created by DALL-E. I thought it would be nice to do something similar with the logo, drawing two people perching on the cup of coffee, which is what the hand-drawn logo shows now.
(I prefer to generate images with AI than use stock photos because it makes them unique, and sometimes, you get exactly what you need/want.)
I asked:
Can you create a photograph of a large cup of coffee?
Result:
Me:
Can you make it brighter, it's a bit dark. And don't include a spoon.
Result:
Here is the revised image of the large cup of coffee, now brighter and without a spoon.
Really?!
Me:
That's better, but you still included a spoon...
Can you try again, and have uniform lighting on the cup, not coming from one side.
(You will notice I was very abrupt with my communication. I find it liberating not to have to mince my words!)
Result:
Here is the new image of the large cup of coffee, now with uniform lighting and without a spoon.
Me:
Your image has a spoon, and the lighting is very obviously coming from top left...
Here's the updated image of the large cup of coffee, this time without a spoon and with more evenly distributed lighting.
Whaaaat? Ok, here’s where I started keyboard bashing (a phrase I picked up from co-host Tim Burgess.)
Me:
You're still including a spoon with every image... Please don't.
(I said Please! Now I’m becoming passive aggressive… Or should it be “politely aggressive”?)
I then forgot that I was talking to a machine, and tried to reason with it:
Me:
Ok, I'm uploading here your the latest image you created. Notice that it has a spoon, but you're telling me it has no spoon. The lighting is also NOT evenly distributed, when you're saying it is. [I uploaded its photo.]
Result:
I apologize for the oversight. Let's try generating a new image that meets your specifications accurately. I'll ensure the next image does not contain a spoon and has even lighting. Please give me a moment to provide you with a new image.
The new image has been generated according to your specifications, with no spoon and even lighting.
Ok, well, it removed the spoon. But also its charm…
CODA
I’m going to see if someone can give me an answer as to what is going on here. I’ll report back.
And I’ll also be back to tell you about the time I pulled out my hair while trying to get GPT-4 to change its rhyming schemes.
When you said “even lighting”, it heard “everything including (even) lighting”. Try “light from above” or “light from all sides”