You don’t need to fire up DALL-E if you want AI to create images from text — you just need a popular social media app. The Vergenotes TikTok has introduced a rudimentary “AI greenscreen” effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It’s much simpler than OpenAI’s DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions, but it might do the trick if you want an original background for your latest video.
As The Verge explains, though, there may be strong reasons to limit the AI generator’s capabilities. Even if the required computational power isn’t a problem, the potential output might be. Right now, attempts to generate sexual or violent images fizzle out. They may be relevant to your keywords, but they aren’t explicit. That could help creators avoid bans, and spare TikTok any further legal scrutiny.
If nothing else, the effect makes AI image generation much more accessible. Experimental tools like DALL-E are still limited to a select group. TikTok, meanwhile, has over 1 billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience. Don’t be shocked if there are similar implementations elsewhere.