AI has come a long way in a VERY short amount of time. In January of 2023, we discussed how we could leverage AI, and at that time, Midjourney was making paintings and not realistic renderings. By June, Midjourney had grown leaps and bounds and could generate lifelike portraits that were pretty close to lifelike. Here we are in December of 2023, and Midjourney is making images so realistic that they could be real places. Stray hairs are rendered on portraits, and the lines between AI and photography have officially blurred. We are at a point where the average person cannot distinguish between man-made art and AI-made art.
To add fuel to the fire, an AI upscaler and detailer called Magnific entered the arena. Magnific takes AI art to new heights with its detailed algorithm, which is controlled by only three basic sliders. I will reiterate that three sliders are the only things separating AI-generated art from reality. I’m not gonna lie; I lost sleep over it, lots of it. In a span of 12 months, I went from thinking AI was “cute” to fearing its introduction to the art world.
That is, of course, until I figured out how to incorporate all of this into my work. Not just render images and backgrounds with AI but also use AI to enhance my photography. Once I discovered this concept, I embraced the idea of a world where AI and my photography could blend. Now, I’m using AI to enhance details in my images and upscale them with ease. For that reason, I MUST share this case study with you.
We will discuss a particular use case for Magnific, Midjourney, and Topaz Gigapixel. Get ready to be amazed that a postcard can become a billboard with practically zero loss in quality. In some cases, it is even BETTER quality than the starting point. AI is here to stay; we can either disregard or embrace it. In my humble opinion, ignoring it is a bad idea! So, let me help you embrace it.