Google has made its “inceptionism” algorithm available to all, allowing coders around the world to replicate the process the company used to create mesmerising dreamscapes with its image processing neural-network.
The system, which works by repeatedly feeding an image through an AI which enhances features it recognises, was first demonstrated by Google two weeks ago. It can alter an existing image to the extent that it looks like an acid trip, or begin with random noise to generate an entirely original dreamscape.
Now that the code for the system is public, users have been playing around with it – apparently competing to see who can make the most nightmarish images possible.
Running Larry Page through the system gives him a few too many mouths, for instance:
#deepdream Larry Page CEO google: pic.twitter.com/1pp6zpbiIO
— samim (@samim) July 2, 2015
and a half-eaten donut is ... MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?
@kcimc this little monster is a half eaten doughnut :D https://t.co/zZ5euPgvsF #deepdream
— Dunks (@dunknicoll) July 2, 2015
And there are cats in the sky:
The eternal question: Is there anybody out there? #deepdream pic.twitter.com/SpKzWQipQT
— Jiri Lukavsky (@jlukavsky) July 2, 2015
Running the already-freaky Philip K Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly through the system ups the weird quota:
Bob Arctor is going to have a bad day. #DeepDream pic.twitter.com/ofsdcvaEdn
— vintermann (@vintermann) July 2, 2015
And in a double Philip K Dick reference: yes, Androids do dream of electric sheep. I know, I’ve made that joke before, I do not care, look at these freaky sheep:
Before #deepdream 'it' was a sheep. pic.twitter.com/8s5nhVXQid
— Pavel Bazin (@pavelbazin) July 2, 2015
You can find more pics all over Facebook, Twitter and even Google+ on the hashtag “deepdream”
