Photo via "A Neural Algorithm of Artistic Style"
Photo via “A Neural Algorithm of Artistic Style”

Used to be getting photographs processed in an hour was a big deal.

Now, researchers in Germany have discovered a computer algorithm that can mimic some of the world’s greatest artists in, you guessed it, about an hour. Computers can take any image and re-create it in the style of a famous artist, like Van Gogh or Picasso.

The findings were published in a paper called “A Neural Algorithm of Artistic Style.”

The paper’s authors write that previously the ability to “create unique visual experiences through composing a complex interplay between the content and style of an image,” could only be done by humans. No more.

The algorithm taps into these human capabilities via “an artificial system based on a Deep Neural Network that creates artistic images of high perceptual quality. The system uses neural representations to separate and recombine content and style of arbitrary images, providing a neural algorithm for the creation of artistic images.”

So, eventually any shot could be turned into a potential masterpiece. However, like that sad Monet poster on many a dorm wall, don’t expect it to be worth anything.

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