AI, or artificial intelligence, is called so for a reason! The technology of AI can deliver some pretty mind-boggling results when it comes to art, but the debate on whether they can be considered art in the first place is ongoing! Justifiably, artists were not happy when recently someone entered an art competition with an AI-generated image and grabbed the first prize.

The Artwork

Jason Allen has recently won the first prize in the digital art category of the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition with an artwork made using Midjourney, an image-generating AI. Allen has stated that he has already created hundreds of art images using Midjourney, and after many weeks of careful curating and fine-tuning, chose the top three to submit to the competition. He upscaled the images with Gigapixel A.I. and then printed them on canvas before submitting them. Allen, who runs Incarnate Games, a tabletop fantasy games company, informed the Colorado competition authority that the images were created using a computer and AI technology. The winning piece among the three was Allen’s favorite and was named ‘Theatre d’Opera Spatial.’

The Debate

Though Allen has defended his submitted works as art, he usually doesn’t describe himself as an artist. Many artists agree with him on this point, as they are not ready to recognize any image created using A.I. as a true piece of art. According to comic book artist Chris Shehan, it’s unethical and shouldn’t be allowed, as AI is not a person and the person typing words into an AI system is not an artist. On the contrary, art historian Dagny Mckinley, one of the judges in the competition, informed the Washington Post that the judges didn’t know the fact that the art piece was AI-generated. However, Mckinley openly admitted that she would have voted for the magical-looking art piece anyway, as the piece had brought Allen’s vision and concept into reality very beautifully.

Nowadays, taking photos seems like a standard thing to do and when they go to be edited, they are sometimes made to be black and white. However, back in the day, taking photos in color wasn’t an option on cameras, and there were no phones to help with color resolution. They were black and white, to begin with.

B&W to Color Photos

Even though they were colorless, many photographs were taken in black and white and have become famous over time and still are to this day. The same ones have been edited to show color and give people a different view of what history would’ve looked like. MyHeritage is a global platform that helps explore family history. They recently launched In Color™, which is a program that automatically colorizes photos in black, all white while keeping the picture intact.

Here are some famous black and white photos in color.

Times Square Kiss – 1945

Many people have photos taken in Times Square, but this one is one of the most famous. Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took it. It’s of a U.S. Navy sailor kissing a stranger, a dental assistant, as the victory over Japan Day was announced on August 14, 1945.

Taj Mahal

This photo is taken at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The dome to the Taj Mahal was covered in bamboo scaffolding to disguise it from enemy bombers. You also see John C. Byrom, Private First Class, with his hand in the marble-lined pool trying to catch a goldfish. Private First Class Ray Cherry and Corporal Anthony J. Scopelliti were observing.

Construction of The Eiffel Tower, Paris – July 1888

This is one of the photos taken in 1888 as the Eiffel Tower in Paris was being constructed. It’s impressive to see that memorable time in history in vivid colors.

Statue of Liberty Workshop – Paris 1882

In 1882, the Statue of Liberty was being constructed inside a workshop in Paris that belonged to a French Sculptor named Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. In the photo, you can see the arm of Lady Liberty, while in the back right, there are some smaller models of the head and the arm.

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California – 1934

This photo was taken in 1934 during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is located in San Francisco, California. The building of the bridge began in 1933, and the bridge opened up in May of 1937, a few weeks after construction ended.