Artificial Technology

Old image. Georgy in the laboratory.

 Back in 2018, I imagined that by using secondary ion mass spectrometry, Georgy White might detect "impossible" forms of matter (with negative mass) in samples of ancient rocks. At that time, I created the imaginary book cover that is shown to the right. In an attempt to use software such as DALL-E and Wombo Dream to help make an illustration of imaginary future technology for one of my science fiction stories, I used this old image of my character Georgy White as a reference image for Mr. Wombo ("Mr. Wombo" is my pet name for the Wombo Dream AI system). I began with this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film 'Alien Technology', dressed Victoria's Secret style, Katrine De Candole is using alien technology, Katrine De Candole is blond, fractal complex alien technology surround Katrine De Candole, laser physics laboratory".

Figure 1. Alien technology.

One of the resulting images that was generated by Mr. Wombo is shown to the left in Figure 1. I can imagine that this image depicts a human scientist who is trying to understand alien technology that has been discovered on an exoplanet. This was a rare AI-generated image that shifted the Hi Tek™ scene from inside a laboratory to the outdoors with a row of mountains visible on the distant horizon in the background.

Where are the aliens? Many images such as the one in Figure 1 had some flat empty space in the lower right corner. I began imagining that there could be the body of an alien in that part of the image. I gave this text prompt to DALL-E 3: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film 'Alien Autopsy', an autopsy on a humanoid alien, the entire body of the alien is shown, the alien is viewed from above".

Figure 2. Alien reference.

 Chocolate in peanut butter. I took one of the alien corpses that was generated by DALL-E and pasted it into one of the "alien technology" images that had been generated by Mr. Wombo and made a new reference image that is shown to the right in Figure 2.

Figure 3. Alien biology.

One of the images that was generated by Mr. Wombo by using Figure 2 as a reference image is shown to the left in Figure 3. I used this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film 'Alien Biology', Katrine De Candole is dressed Victoria's Secret style, Katrine De Candole is examining the body of a humanoid alien, Katrine De Candole is blond, fractal complex alien technology surrounds Katrine De Candole, futuristic molecular biology laboratory".

Figure 4. DALL-E's alien study break.

The image shown in Figure 3 (above) surprised me because Mr. Wombo 1) used a mirror image orientation, 2) made a humanoid alien that was closer to what I was hoping for than the one made by DALL-E (Figure 2) and 3) Mr. Wombo seemed to transfer the greenish color from DALL-E's alien into a Hi Tek™ suit for the human scientist rather than retain the rather boring white clothing that was in the reference image. 

 The Relentless Inflation of Mr. Wombo. Also, notice that Mr. Wombo has distinct preference for women with big breasts; look at the changes from Figure 1 to Figure 2 to Figure 3 to Figure 5 (below).

Figure 5. Robotics laboratory.

I was fairly satisfied with the background that Mr. Wombo devised for Figure 3. Figure 3 provides an example of one of the rare images generated by Mr. Wombo that I'm showing here in this blog post without first correcting some glaring anatomical error. 

Figure 6. Alternate robot.

 Danger! Unsafe! However, despite such occasional successes, working with the AI image generating systems continues to often be a source of annoyance and frustration. DALL-E 3 refused to generate an image for this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film 'Alien Biology', Katrine De Candole is studying humanoid alien, the entire body of the alien is shown, the alien is reclining and is viewed from above", claiming that it produced "unsafe content" that violates "our content policy".

Figure 7. Alien by DALL-E.

 Finding ways around restrictive policies. I modified the text prompt to: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film "Alien Biology”, Katrine De Candole is studying a humanoid alien, the entire length of the body of the alien is shown from head to foot, the alien is reclining and is viewed from above" and then DALL-E generated the image shown in Figure 4.

 Robots vs Aliens.
Mr. Wombo seemed to be as unhappy with DALL-E's skeletal aliens as I was. Rather than generate images of aliens, Mr. Wombo preferred to make robots. Figure 5 shows what I'll describe as a "transitional form" with some biological features while Figure 6 is a completely metal robot. I got images of robots from Mr. Wombo while I was asking for an alien and still using a reference an image of an alien provided by DALL-E (see Figure 7). 

Figure 8. Alien robotics.

 Figure 6 is shown here unaltered from its original form as generated by Mr. Wombo. I inserted some elements of Figure 6 into in Figure 5 in order to repair deficiencies in the original AI-generated version of the image, preserving the head of the rather freaky cyborg/robot.

Additions. I was rather amazed by the audacity of Mr. Wombo and the insertion of a second person into this science fiction scene while using the reference image shown in Figure 7. Also, note the Mr. Wombo was seemingly hungry for some cleavage and without being prompted, inserted two half-clad breasts into the work-a-day world of this laboratory research scene (Figure 6). 

As shown in Figure 8, I was able to get Mr. Wombo to change this scene to include an alien cyborg with blue skin helping to assemble the robot. 

Figure 9. Alien research.

 Figure 8 was generated with this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of Katrine De Candole in the science fiction film 'Robotics', dressed Victoria's Secret style, Katrine De Candole is very tall and slim, an alien with blue skin is building a humanoid robot, Katrine De Candole is blond, the robot is reclining, the robot is seen from the side, futuristic robotics laboratory". My original intention was to have a human and an alien collaborating to build a robot, but as soon as you mention "robot" to Mr. Wombo, he starts turning the human figure in the scene into a cyborg. Oh, well... cyborgs look cool.

Figure 10. First contact.

The image shown in Figure 9 captures the spirit of exploring alien biology that I was trying to achieve, featuring two alien creatures that seem significantly more alien than the "golden alien" shown above in Figure 3. Figure 9 is a composite, manually assembled with elements taken from several AI-generated images.

The alien in Figure 10 either has some strange alien anatomical features, or it is a humanoid alien wearing some sort of exoskeleton like suit. Maybe the human is taking this opportunity to get a close look at the alien so that she can decide just how human-like this alien is. The only modification that I made to the original AI-generated image in Figure 10 was to give the alien a new left hand, holding some glowing blue material.

Figure 11. Getting to know you.

 Hollywood Alien Parade.
The image shown in Figure 11 has another alien creature that was generated by Mr. Wombo. Unfortunately, Mr. Wombo either makes human-like faces or plastic-like alien faces. Is this the unavoidable legacy of television shows and movies in which aliens were people wearing plastic masks?

Figure 12. Robotics laboratory.

 And robots, too. If I mention science fiction to Mr. Wombo, stock aliens and robots, seemingly from Hollywood, are quickly summoned from central casting. Among the many images with robots that were generated by Mr. Wombo, one of the more interesting is shown in Figure 12. In my imagination. this could be a futuristic robotics laboratory. Once again, I had to insert a Hi Tek™ tool from another image in order to cover up part of her left hand that was mangled by Mr. Wombo. I wonder what we should make of the pink object that the robot is holding and showing to the robotics technician.

Figure 13. A positronic robot.

 Positronic Robots. In my imagination, the AI-generated image in Figure 13 could be an early stage in the development of positronic robots. As described by Isaac Asimov, the early positronic robots were significantly larger than the usual human body size.

Figure 14. Human studies project.

 Figure 14 shows an image generated by Mr. Wombo that combined an alien humanoid robot with a cyborg. I changed the cyborg into an alien with green skin and added in two human figures. In my imagination, having visited Earth, these two aliens are now studying human biology (see: "What Is This Thing Called Love?" by Asimov). 

I'm not sure, but maybe the green alien is of a species that has four arms. For another humanoid with four arms, see an earlier blog post's Figure 16. 

Alien robot with cyborg.

 Cyborgs and Robots. The image to the left shows another style of of robot that was generated by Mr. Wombo. I'm not sure why anyone from Earth would make a purple robot, so I'll call this and alien robot who is making First Contact with a human cyborg. The alien robot has a distinct curiosity about mammalian anatomical specializations.

Excited robot.

The image to the right shows another model of robot that was created by Mr. Wombo. I was impressed by the wavy hair that Mr. Wombo generated for this cyborg. I wonder if she is trying to ignore the robot's rather emphatic salute or if she has just ordered the robot to prepare for a sexplay session.

Figure 15. Robot factory.

In Figure 15, I'll imagine that this might be part of a positronic brain assembly and testing process at U. S. Robots, Inc. 

Mr. Wombo placed a blurry human figure in the background; maybe that is a humaniform robot that is waiting for its positronic brain to be installed. Text prompt: "high resolution movie still of a young Elle Macpherson building a robot, Elle Macpherson is wearing gloves, Elle Macpherson is holding a robot head, Elle Macpherson is seen in profile view, Elle Macpherson is smiling, Elle Macpherson is happy, Elle Macpherson is twenty years old, Elle Macpherson has long blond hair, a robot in the background".

Figure 16. Steampunk robot.

 Project: Robot Head. However, I was not very happy with the robot head in Figure 15 so I had Mr. Wombo generate some alternatives. First, I had Mr. Wombo make some steampunk robots such as the one in Figure 16. I must say: I can't accommodate myself to robots with metal top hats.

Figure 17. Big hair.

 Big Hair Cover Girl. The image in Figure 17 impressed me by the amount of hair that Mr. Wombo generated. Sometimes I specify long hair and "big hair"... Mr. Wombo really went in that direction for Figure 17.

Then I had Mr. Wombo use one of the steampunk robot heads as a reference image for use with other Wombo Dream image generating "styles".

Figure 18. Alternate robot head.

One of the resulting robot heads is shown in Figure 18. Once again I was struggling with Mr. Wombo's inability to create images that are human-like, but just a small amount "off" and different, like we might imagine for an artificial humanoid robot.

Figure 19. Please explain...

 Mysteries in the AI Laboratory. For Mr. Wombo, it was not a very big step from images such as the one in Figure 15 to the one shown in Figure 19. Mr. Wombo decided to throw in some cleavage and again produced a fairly impressive head of hair.

In my imagination the humanoid alien in Figure 19 has arrived on Earth with a robotic assistant. There are no mammals on the alien's home world, so humans are a biological mystery for the alien. The alien is asking the Earth woman, "Can you please explain the purpose of these frontal appendages?"

Cyborg girl.

 The next day. While I was intent on generating interesting robot heads, Mr. Wombo Suddenly generated the image that is shown to the right. I'm forced to think of that as a cyborg girl. Maybe the mother tells the robot, "Today I brought my daughter to work. She'll teach you about the mammal life style and the function of my frontal appendages."

Lessons in human physiology.

 Human Physiology Lesson. The image to the left shows another view of the cyborg girl, enlarged a bit to make it easier to see the interesting expression on her face. In this image, the woman is ready to show the robot how young humans can obtain food from a woman's "frontal appendages".

Figure 20. Positronics research.

 The image shown to the right in Figure 20 has one of the more unusual robots that was generated for me by Mr. Wombo. This tall, feminine robot is getting close to the goal of having a human-like face that is distinctly non-human.

A no nipple cyborg.

 No Nipples Zone. Mr. Wombo is able to generate images with plenty of cleavage, but nipples seem to be the major no-no. There are times when it seems as if Mr. Wombo lets a breast hang out as long as he can pretend that it is covered by a layer of cloth (as for the image to the left).

Lesson completed.

The image to the right was modified so as to complete the mammalian physiology lesson for a curious robot. I have to wonder how much longer some members of our society will pretend to be offended by images of nipples and their normal biological function.

Figure 21. Tickle me robot.

 Handy Robot.  Figure 21 is unaltered from the way that it was generated by Mr. Wombo. In this case, I was amused by the expression on the face of the robot. It is somewhat rare for Mr. Wombo to suddenly have one figure in a scene begin to invade the personal space of another person.

There is a scene in the film Bicentennial Man when a robot tells a joke about "numming" a woman breasts.

Figure 22. Robotic discovery.

 Madam, do you mind? In the spirit of Robin Williams, the image in Figure 21 was modified by me in order to allow this curious robot to complete its exploration of human anatomy (see the image to the right).

Figure 23. Upgrade #1.

 Robot Equipment Upgrades. Another robot's exploration of human anatomy is shown in Figure 23. In Bicentennial Man, the robot star of the movie undergoes a series of "upgrades" in order to make it more and more like a human.

In his robot stories, Isaac Asimov depicted the robot Jander as being the lover of Gladia, a woman from the planet Solaria. Their sexual relationship is important to Gladia because she grew up in a society where humans obsessively avoided physical contact with other people. Through her sexual exploration of Jander, Gladia was gradually able to learn how to enjoy sexplay.

Figure 24. Upgrade #2.

 Sadly, Asimov never gave readers any details about sex lives of his sexually active robots. I imagine that an experimenting robotocist on a planet like Tar'tron might initially try to satisfy a robot's curiosity about human sexual experiences by providing the robot with sex organs (Figure 23). After the success of that first experiment and many months of working in the laboratory with a priapic robot, the robotocist might decide to start experimenting with how to use a robot for her own sexual enjoyment.

In Bicentennial Man, the robot falls in love with a woman and the robot is jealous of the man who the woman is planning to marry. The robot makes a comment about how his rival has a big pointy chin that could put an eye out. I feel there is a similar joke lurking behind Figure 24 and that robot who has upgraded its artificial penis in an attempt to impress a female roboticist. 

How low can Mr. Wombo go?

 Figure 24 is a kind of joke image with a rather silly and strangely long robotic appendage. In the same playful spirit, the image to the left was generated by Mr. Wombo with a rather long and plunging breast. Mr. Wonbo could not stop fusing the top of the cyborg's head into the chest of the robot.

Four arms.

 Double Time. Eventually, if the breasts go too low and too far below the chin, then Mr. Wombo will give up and start generating images with a lower row of breasts. This is usually followed by a pair of arms for each row of breasts (see the image to the right). 

In this case, Mr. Wombo also gave up trying to have both a robot and a cyborg on the left side of the image. The robot was shifted into a slightly different position right in front of the woman and also provided with a fairly human face, glowing in blue light.

Figure 25. Cyborg moment.

 On the Beach. While I was using Mr. Wombo to generate images of robots, suddenly the image in Figure 25 was created. Similar to Figure 22 (above) this was another rare AI-generated image where two "people" were allowed to get close to each other. I'll call these two cyborg woman, one seemingly with metallic shoulders and the other with a Hi Tek™ metal head.

Figure 26. Beach cyborg.

Using Figure 25 as a reference image, it was easy to generate additional images such as the one shown in Figure 26 in which the woman on the left lost her cyborg features, but Mr. Wombo was reluctant to make the other cyborg have an even more distinctly artificial facial appearance while retaining a normal human appearance of the woman on the left.

Figure 27. Metal Face.

I tried isolating the cyborg on the right side of the image and while I used this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of a humanoid robot in the film "Artificial Intelligence", a robot visits a beach, the robot has a human face, the robot is seen in profile view, the robot has a a shinning blue metal face, fractal complex machine design with some human hair, long blond hair, big hair, ocean and beach in the background", Mr. Wombo generated images with a cyborg on the beach such as the one that is shown to the left (Figure 27).

Mr. Wombo feels it is wrong to show an empty beach, so some images had people in the background while others (such as the one in Figure 27) had strange robots with oddly fragmented limbs.

Figure 28. Blue Robot.

I then spliced together a human and a robot to produce Figure 28. For the Mosy Saga, I've been struggling to figure out how to provide the Rep (artificial life forms) with a distinct appearance. In this case, Mr. Wombo used the color blue to help make the robot look less human, but that was going too far. For Figure 29, I tried changing the "skin" tone of the robot.

Figure 29. New color.

Using the color-adjusted image that is shown in Figure 29 as a reference image with the prompt, "high resolution movie still of Meg Ryan and a humanoid robot in the film 'Beach Buggy', Meg Ryan and the robot kiss, the robot has a human face made of plastic, the robot is seen in profile view, the robot’s head has some fractal complex machine design and some human hair below, long blond hair, ocean and beach in the background", made it difficult for Mr. Wombo. Most of the Wombo Dream "styles" could not correctly treat the two figures in the image as a human on the left and a robot on the right; they tried to mix things up and make two cyborgs.

Figure 30. One nose kiss.

A few of the "styles" could treat the figure on the left as Meg Ryan and the figure on the right as some sort of cyborg. However, there was a serious anatomical problem. Mr. Wombo wanted the two people to share a single nose, as shown in Figure 30. I was amused by the fact that Mr. Wombo sometimes let them start slicking out a tongue.

Figure 31. Nightly v2 style.

One of the best images for this difficult face-to face scene that could be generated by Mr. Wombo is shown to the left (Figure 31). Along with the "Absurd v2" and "Dreamwave v2" styles, the "Nightly v2" style can produce some of the most surprising and interesting images generated by Wombo Dream.

One of the features of the image shown in Figure 31 that I like is that the cyborg actually seems to have skin that looks like plastic. I had to cut and paste a patch of artificial cyborg hair by her forehead that was taken from another similar image.

Figure 32. Baroque v3 style.

The other two Wombo Dream "styles" that could generate depictions of this scene were two of the newer version 3 styles; "Baroque v3" (see Figure 32) and "Dreamland v3". Poor Mr. Wombo really could not get the noses right with the two faces so close together. See this image for a similar anatomical problem that baffles Mr. Wombo.

Figure 33. Dreamland v3 style.

The image in Figure 33 was generated by the "Dreamland v3" style of WOMBO Dream. Notice that Mr. Wombo could not decide which nose to show. In all 3 of these images (Figures 31-33), Mr. Wombo began to transform her shirt into plastic body parts for a cyborg. I tried to erase the most offensive rivets that Mr. Wombo added to the shirts in these images.

Figure 34. Alien cyborg.

I'll end this blog post with an imaginary book cover using one of the more interesting images of an alien cyborg that I was able to get Mr. Wombo to generate (see Figure 34, to the right) using this text prompt: "high resolution movie still of a beautiful humanoid alien in the science fiction film “Cyborg”, dressed Victoria's Secret style, skinny waist and hips, seated, the alien has a human-like face, the alien’s hair and skin is tinted red, long hair, red eyes behind a mask, alien technology in a dark background, interior of a spaceship". Maybe this cyborg is 50% biological and 50% mechanical. A set of other AI-generated cyborgs is shown below.

Next: Making an illustration for a science fiction story about cloned humans.

Visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers