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Have you ever wondered what Queen Elizabeth II would look like if she was in a Wes Anderson movie? Or would the Eiffel Tower look different if the River Seine suddenly ran dry? Thanks to AI image generators, now you don't have to imagine.

Sure, you can use the AI art generators to see what Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg would look like working at Subway. But other creators are more interested in manipulating the vast art databases to conjure up something even more intriguing. Such is the If Only AI project.

Its creator and owner Vincent Smadja agreed to have a short chat with Bored Panda. He told us more about what inspired his AI art project, what tools he uses to create the images you see in this list, and his two cents on whether AI art is just "an illusion of art."

We previously covered Vincent's other project, Superwrong Magazine. While Superwrong features works from other artists and creators as well, If Only is strictly a personal project. It's a page for digital visual art created with the help of artificial intelligence. The artist describes it as a "merge between art and AI."

Vincent has already garnered some attention from the press for his project If Only. He started the account only in June 2023, but already has over 60k followers. The artist told Parametric Architecture that he uses the program Midjourney, and that working with AI helped him to express his vision.

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    Most of the stuff on If Only AI features architectural wonders as well as satirical portraits of famous people. There's one question that the creator is itching to answer. "What is absent from our reality that I would love to see come to life?" 

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    Based on this thought experiment, he imagines innovative scenarios and audacious architecture and pushes the boundaries of what we understand as art.

    We asked Vincent to tell us more about the inception of If Only Ai. "I launched my artistic alias ‘If Only’ in early July 2023 after months of self-taught training," the creator says. "The idea behind this project was to share with others the extent of my ideas and concepts that I had accumulated over many years."

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    The person behind If Only AI looks for creative incentives everywhere. "My inspirations are diverse: my desires, dreams and nightmares, architecture, travels." Interestingly, he also gets inspired by brands and advertising. "With a background in marketing, I love imagining and visualizing what brands could do in terms of scenography, events, textiles, etc.," the creator adds.

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    #12

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    Mark
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Finland has something called the Kemi Snow Castle, which is a real life version of this

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    As we already mentioned, the main tool in Smadja's arsenal is the generative AI program Midjourney. "I work exclusively on Midjourney and, more recently, on Magnific AI to upscale my images," the page's curator says. "In reality, there is no 'recipe' process. Similar to design, there are many different paths to achieve a satisfactory result."

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    k1ddkanuck
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Well, yeah, ya know... I was walking down the street and some 8 year old kid asked me to join in on his balloon themed pool party. I couldn't pass it up man...!" -Future Keanu. This is literally the most plausible image in this list. He would totally do this on a whim.

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    Joy
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Perhaps the most divine aspect of any Pope or religious|spiritual leader is humanity, warmth, love and humour

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    The creator takes us behind the scenes of his process. "Before starting to prompt, I idealize in my mind what the expected result would be," he begins. "Once imagined, I dive into production with perseverance to achieve what I envisioned at the beginning." Vincent emphasizes that perseverance is key to his creative process.

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    Naturally, the ability to input good prompts doesn't come overnight. The image-creating process therefore can be arduous. "The biggest challenge on Midjourney is adding fantasy to an existing place, product or subject. To be honest, it doesn't always work," the creator is honest. "I have developed techniques to get as close as possible to reality with my creativity as makeup."

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    Overcoming these challenges is what Vincent finds the most rewarding throughout his journey as the curator of If Only AI. "What I love most about my creative process [is] battling with Midjourney," he claims.

    "Many things do not (yet) work on Midjourney. But when I manipulate my different techniques to do what is basically not possible and achieve the expected result, it's a joy."

    And here we find ourselves pondering the most burning question: what do we as a society think of AI art? Is AI-generated creativity legit? Is it an art and design killer? We asked Vincent's opinion on the topic. And he has a very open-ended answer. 

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    He says he simply doesn't engage in such conversations with critics and doesn't have a formal answer. "Art, in my opinion, is a very personal perception. AI is, for me, a liberating tool for creativity – but is a creative person a creator? I leave you to ponder on that."

    Some artists have nothing against AI-generated art. They think it will only propel old-school artists to greater heights by making physical art more special, unique and desirable. Others believe that the pressure of existing AI-generated images might improve the personal style in their art.

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    k1ddkanuck
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can literally smell the Parisian anger lmao. They get furious over proposals for new skyscrapers. This would start a minor nuclear explosion of indignation and outrage. Where's my popcorn??

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    However, some artists have a more bleak outlook. Artist and critic Eric Wayne likens this moment in time to when Microsoft's Deep Blue defeated Chess master Gary Kasparov. 

    "I still hold onto the notion that someone could certainly use AI in a very individual and creative way, but that just trains the AI, in which case the AI then shares that same capacity to use against humans, so to speak."

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    k1ddkanuck
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I will ride the cheese train. Mud baths are so 2010. Cheese Baths are the next thing. Fight me.

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    #37

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    Zaphod
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I love art deco architecture, cars and design, in general.

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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That would so pretty at night with stars.. especially the flowers

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    I heart Boo-BI-es
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Burj Khalifa now blends in with the amazing water fountain show, making it almost invisible.

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    k1ddkanuck
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So that's what the bathroom on Trump's stupid jet looks like... actually no, sorry... not enough gold...

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    Marjorie Macrae
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Just a big NO from me, how could anyone sleep in this without thinking you are going to fall.

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    celeste hall
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    with need due to sea level rise the floating bookmobile came to be

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    Annik Perrot
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are enough dams and lakes on the main tributaries of the Seine to ensure this never happens, or to prevent Paris from getting flooded.

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    Lara Verne
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sauron's headquarters. Eye was too expensive, so they used cameras.

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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    She won the award for best crop dusting ever. 💨 could be smelled 3 counties over.

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