A man has used AI to imagine what famous historical figures would like if they could take selfies.
Duncan Thomsen, 53, has recreated pictures from the Battle of Waterloo, the court of Cleopatra and the Last Supper.
He has also made snaps ‘taken’ by Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and soldiers at Agincourt.
Duncan, a freelance film editor from Brighton, believes he’s the first person to use AI for this purpose – and said the results are ‘hilarious’.
‘AI is cutting edge technology. I spent a month working out a formula of prompts, language and photographic elements to give photos this “selfie” effect,’
‘The results are hilarious, and everyone I’ve shared my work with can’t believe how real the pictures really look. I’ve done Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Jesus and many more.’
AI responds to prompts and commands set by the user and creates pictures by referencing billions of images online.
Duncan uses the software Midjourney, through the application Discord, to make his own photographic historical selfies.
‘It can be a lengthy programming process because AI requires users to tell it exactly what it needs to do and requires “absolute description”‘, he said.
Duncan added that he believes his technique could be used to teach history in schools.
‘This technology could be used in schools as a new way of teaching and engaging kids with world history – it’s like time travelling without a time machine,’ he said.
‘You can ask AI to be historically accurate and then it can reference anything, anywhere, everywhere – that’s the beauty of it,’
‘I got an eye for image through my day job and have been fortunate to have worked with some really great people,’
‘It’s allowed me to cross reference everything I’ve worked on and explore my imagination without limits, and this is the result!’
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