Artist develops a camera that takes AI-generated images based on your location

Paragraphica generates pictures based on the weather, date, and other information
Bjørn Karmann demonstrates his Paragraphica AI camera
Bjørn Karmann demonstrates his Paragraphica AI camera
Bjørn Karmann/Paragraphica
Alys Key1 June 2023

A special camera has been developed that can take ‘photos’ of any location, without using a lens.

Paragraphica uses data about a place, the weather conditions, and the date to generate an image using artificial intelligence.

The prototype, created by Amsterdam-based Danish artist Bjørn Karmann, uses GPS and a web connection to gather data. Users can use dials to adjust the settings, just as you would on an analogue camera.

Posting a demo video to Twitter, Karmann showed how the AI-powered device was able to replicate a street in Amsterdam.

He later clarified that the camera is a “passion art project” and is not intended to become a commercial product.

“Rather, it’s questioning the role of AI in a time of creative tension,” he said.

Karmann has also created an online version of Paragraphica, which anyone can use to generate an AI image of a place. However, the rush of interest in recent days has overloaded the site, so it might not work for everyone.

The camera works by collecting open-source data. As well as the time of day and address, it can take into account the date and any special events happening at that time, as well as points of interest nearby.

Speaking to the Evening Standard’s Tech & Science Daily podcast, Karmann said that the AI often “imagines” pictures that are “oddly similar” to the real location.

On the physical prototype, the place where a lens would sit on a traditional camera is covered by a small sculpture. Its design is inspired by the star-nosed mole, an animal which is functionally blind but ‘sees’ its environment using its distinctive snout.

The Paragraphica camera has a distinctive snout which mimics the star-nosed mole (Photo: Bjørn Karmann)
The Paragraphica camera has a distinctive snout which mimics the star-nosed mole
Bjørn Karmann

The debate over AI photos

While Paragraphica may be an art project, AI image generation is already rolling out on a wider scale, with the line between what’s real and what’s fake not always clear.

In March, Samsung found itself at the centre of a controversy over additional details added to pictures of the moon as part of its ‘space zoom’ feature.

Meanwhile, editing tools such as Adobe’s AI co-pilot for Photoshop and Meta’s Segment Anything feature are making it easier for anyone to adjust how a picture looks.

Concerns have also been raised about whether AI images infringe on the copyright of artists and photographers. Earlier this year, Getty Images took an AI company to court over its use of the image database to train its image-generating software.

Karmann told Tech & Science Daily he created Paragraphica to raise awareness of the ways AI is already being used to alter photos.

“Companies are kind of relying on these algorithms to improve their photos already, and that’s kind of concerning, I think,” he said.

“We are seeing a trend [where] images aren’t actually reality already,” he added. “So this was a big art exercise to really explore these questions in a tangible object that everyone can relate to.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in