Humanoid Aliens

Figure 1. An alien generated by ImageFX.

 In my previous blog post, I allowed myself to be carried along with Whisk's natural bias to depict aliens as something (maybe an insect pest) to be blasted with a ray-gun. Here in this blog post (below), I return to my usual practice of imagining aliens that are quite similar to we humans. In the Exodemic Fictional Universe, the pek and the bumpha have worked hard to being into existence Hua-oid life forms such as we humans. Thus, in my imagination, an intelligent alien life-form is likely to be quite similar in appearance to we humans with some minor structural differences. I despise Hollywood depictions of space aliens as hideous monsters and I don't like image generating software that defaults to depicting aliens as ugly monsters.

Prompt: "an alien on a distant exoplanet". Images by Whisk, Mr. Wombo, Gemini, DALL-E 3 and DreamUp.

Figure 1a.
A humanoid alien.
By Mr. Wombo.

humanoid alien by Whisk

 Tradition. As shown in my previous blog post, while discussing an image that had been generated by ImageFX, Gemini 'said' to me: "ImageFX seems to have taken the prompt quite literally, attempting to visualize the process of human-AI collaboration in image creation.  The resulting alien is a kind of "transitional" being, caught between different styles and forms, reflecting the AI's struggle to realize a specific vision and the human's role in guiding that process." I returned that Gemini-generated text to ImageFX as a text prompt and it generated the new image that is at the top of this blog post (see Figure 1). I don't mind a humanoid alien with large eyes and non-human skin pigmentation, but why make the alien ugly? Tradition.

Generated by Leonardo.

The image shown to the left is more my style of a depiction of a humanoid alien. So how can you get software like ImageFX (and DALLE 3 & Whisk & WOMBO Dream & DreamUp & Leonardo) to stop making ugly aliens and start helping depict the kinds of aliens that I want to include in illustrations for my science fiction stories?

Figure 2. blond alien

I pasted the face of the alien that had been generated by ImageFX (the image shown in Figure 1, with some manual modifications in color and to reduce the ugly skin texture) into another reference image that had been generated by Mr. Wombo (see the image to the right, Figure 2). I then allowed Mr. Wombo to make variations on the composite humanoid alien reference image from Figure 2.

Figure 3. Derived from Figure 2.

One of the resulting humanoid aliens generated by Mr. Wombo is shown in Figure 3. 

 Two Methods. Using the humanoid alien reference image from Figure 3, Mr. Wombo was able to generate the alien humanoid faces that are shown in Figures 4-8, below. 

In contrast, the slightly alien face in Figure 1a was made directly from a reference image containing an AI-generated human face by using a text prompt that verbally asked for long pointed ears and large eyes.

Figure 4. by Mr. Wombo

Here is how Whisk described the image that is shown in Figure 4: "A young woman with light blonde, wavy hair and light-toned skin is shown seated at a computer desk. She has pointed ears and appears to be a stylized fantasy character. She is wearing a silver-grey jacket over a black lace bralette, black leather pants with decorative metal accents, and black sheer stockings.  Her high-heeled shoes are black.  She has on several bracelets.  The computer screen displays a portrait of a young woman with shoulder-length light blonde hair and fair skin. The desk is light beige with a metallic grey base. A table lamp with a beige shade is visible behind the woman. The background is a muted brown tone."

Figure 5. by Mr. Wombo

 The images shown in Figures 4-7 are all composites. The main images were generated by Mr. Wombo using various WOMBO Dream styles and then the separately generated humanoid faces were pasted in. 

Figure 6. by Mr. Wombo

In my imagination, the humanoid women in Figures 4-7 could be a human variant similar to the tryp'At. Maybe in some fork of the Ekcolir Reality, Tyhry performed experiments testing her ability to use developmental control nanites to recover her tryp'At features... starting with facial features and the pointed tryp'At ears.

Figure 7. by Mr. Wombo

It is possible that those experiments convinced Tyhry to begin avoiding adoption of tryp'At facial features such as the large eyes so that she could continue pretending to be a conventional human of Earth. By using hair nanites, Tyhry could cover up the pointed tryp'At ears. Whisk did not note the unusually large size of the eyes in these images.

SSS humanoid

I provided Whisk with the "subject", "scene" and "style" inputs that are shown to the right. The two "subject" images and the "scene" image were similar, but distinct versions of the humanoid alien girl in video-conference with the human woman (Figures 4-7). I had intentionally made the humanoid girl so as to represent a young Tyhry, at about 15 years of age. 

Figure 8. Whisk storyboard version #1.

Using those inputs, Whisk seemed eager to generate images in which there were two older women in addition to a woman seen on a display screen (see the image to the left, Figure 8). One of the women had pointed ears, but otherwise looked like a normal human. Whisk also seems quite certain that humans must sit at computer desks, not stand.

Generated by Mr. Wombo

Here is Whisk's description of the image in Figure 8: "A digital painting in the style of science fiction concept art, featuring muted earth tones of browns, tans, and beige.  Warm, desaturated lighting casts soft shadows.  Two young women with pointed ears and light-toned skin are in a dimly lit room with a reddish-brown floor. One woman, slender with long, straight blonde hair, wears a black and silver armored-looking outfit (low-cut top, short detailed skirt, black opaque tights, high heels) and stands next to a futuristic silver table with a clear base.  The other woman, with wavy blonde hair, sits at the table, wearing a silver-grey jacket over a black lace bralette, black leather pants with metal accents, black sheer stockings, and black high heels.  Both women have serious expressions.  On the table is a computer screen displaying a portrait of a young blonde woman. A lamp is visible in the background. The overall aesthetic is gritty, slightly worn, and detailed but not photorealistic, with clear lines and slightly rough textures." 

Generated by Mr. Wombo

I edited the description of the storyboard: "A stunningly detailed, photorealistic rendering of a science fiction setting featuring three young humanoid alien women with pointed ears from a distant exoplanet. They both have light-toned skin and are in a dimly lit room with a reddish-brown floor, gazing at a display screen. One humanoid alien woman, slender with long, straight blonde hair, wears a black and silver lace outfit (low-cut lace top, short lace skirt, black lace tights with bare feet) and stands next to a futuristic silver table with a clear base.  The other humanoid alien woman, with wavy blonde hair, sits at the table, wearing a silver-grey jacket over a black lace bralette, black lace pants, black sheer stockings, and black high heels.  The third humanoid alien woman is manipulating the controls of a complex electronic device. The humanoid alien women have very large alien eyes.  On the table is a computer screen displaying a portrait of a young blonde human woman from Earth. A lamp is visible in the background. The scene is detailed and hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a vibrant color scheme."

Figure 8a. Whisk storyboard version #2.

Generated by Mr. Wombo

Now using my modified "storyboard" description, Whisk generated the image that is shown in Figure 8a. Whisk decided to provide a tail for the humanoid alien who is standing. Whisk seemed to find it difficult to give these humanoids the kind of large eyes that I was hoping for. 

SS blue subject

I modified my description so as to emphasize the large eyes, but there was not much change (see Figure 9, below). I tried to get Whisk to include five humanoid aliens in the room, but the limit seemed to be four (see Figure 10). 

I made the composite image shown in Figure 11. I requested that Whisk depict the woman in blue jeans as a human, but Whisk struggled to make multiple humanoid aliens and one human in the same room (see Figure 12). Also, I could not get the woman in blue jeans to be placed close to the camera and facing away from the camera.

I tried adding the image shown to the right as another Whisk "subject" image, but that made no difference.

Figure 9. Whisk storyboard version #3.

Figure 10. Whisk storyboard version #4.

Figure 11. Composite storyboard version #5.

Figure 12. Whisk-generated storyboard; version #6.

Generated by Mr. Wombo

I continued to modify the "storyboard" description that was being used by Whisk. Here is the "storyboard" description that I used for the generation of Figure 13, below: "A stunningly detailed, photorealistic rendering of a science fiction setting featuring five young humanoid alien women with pointed ears and large eyes from a distant exoplanet. The humanoid alien women have light-toned skin and are in a dimly lit room with a reddish-brown floor, gazing at a display screen. One humanoid alien woman, slender with long, straight blonde hair, wears a black and silver lace outfit (low-cut lace top, short lace skirt, black lace tights with bare feet) and stands next to a futuristic silver table with a clear base.  The other humanoid alien woman, with wavy blonde hair, sits at the table, wearing a silver-grey jacket over a black lace bralette, black lace pants, black sheer stockings, and black high heels.  The third humanoid alien woman is manipulating the controls of a complex electronic device. The humanoid alien women have very large alien eyes and they are extremely tall and slim.  

Generated by Mr. Wombo

On the table is a computer screen displaying a portrait of a young blonde human woman from Earth. A tall human woman with long black hair and dressed in blue jeans and a white lace top stands beside the table. This human woman in blue jeans is close to the camera and her figure fills the entire image from top to bottom. The human woman in blue jeans is facing away from the camera. A futuristic LED lamp is visible in the background. The scene is detailed and hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a vibrant color scheme". Using this updated text prompt, Whisk generated an image with four aliens and a human woman in blue jeans, as shown in Figure 13, below.

Figure 13. Whisk-generated "storyboard"; version #7.

Generated by Mr. Wombo

I don't know why Whisk got into the habit of making two of the humanoid aliens look like duplicates of the same figure with very similar poses. I tried writing a distinct part of the text prompt for each humanoid alien, but I suspect I only confused Whisk with too much information. I eventually gave up trying to get the human to appear in the room the way I wanted her to appear. The image shown in Figure 14 is a composite image. I asked Whisk to tint the alien humanoids green and I pasted in the human figure in blue jeans.

In my imagination, the woman with the black hair is Marda and she can speak to Tyhry via the video link. I also asked Whisk to make one of the humanoid aliens point at the display screen. The image to the right depicts Tyhry on the other end of the "line" speaking to an alien humanoid in video conference.

Figure 14. Marda with the aliens. Tyhry on the video conference. (Whisk)

Figure 15. Tyhry and Marda trying to sell blue jeans to aliens. (Whisk)

alien by Whisk

Just for the record, I hate the style of aliens that Whisk used for the image in Figure 15. This is another good example of AI-powered image generating software being forced to make aliens with some specific features simply because the internet is full of similar images.

The image in  Figure 15 was not entirely generated by Whisk. Mr. Wombo generated the alien at the left side of Figure 15. I pasted in that naked green alien in order to cover up a less interesting alien that Whisk had generated (see the image to the right).

I kept trying to add more aliens in these scenes and Whisk got confused, trying the blue jeans on various aliens. I decided to go with that and imagine that Tyhry and Marda must have begun selling blue jeans to the aliens, or maybe all of the clothing is nanite-generated. Related Reading: see this 2023 blog post for mare about clothing nanites.

I also tried to get Leonardo and DreamUp to create their versions of this scene with aliens (see below).

Figure 16. Not sure what happened to the head of the second alien from the right edge. (Leonardo)

Figure 17. Tyhry meeting with aliens. The image on the display was manually added. (Leonardo)

Figure 18. Aliens explain why Marda has sprouted an extra hand! (Leonardo)

Figure 19. Tyhry and Marda trade sex toys for advanced alien technology. (Leonardo)

 

SSS insects

 Etymology. One of my long-standing projects is investigation into the reasons why aliens visit Earth. During the past month, several times Whisk has broken. Apparently, Jimmy the intern is learning to program by developing the Whisk software. Yesterday, no "subject" images could be uploaded. 

An alien who visits Earth to study insects.

Today I managed to upload one "subject" image, but Whisk generated no text description for the image (top panel in the image shown to the left). I also provided another text "subject" that was simply: "Whisk is full of bugs". Whisk generated the image that is shown to the right.

When I provided Leonardo with the text prompt for Figure 15, Leonardo generated the image shown in Figure 16 (above). Two of the green aliens were given human-like skin on part of their bodies by Leonardo (compare to Figure 20, below).

Figure 20.

In Figure 17 (above), Leonardo seeming compromised on the hair of the green aliens, hinting at some green hair but making blond hair for these aliens. The image on the display screen was from another Leonardo-generated image.

 Growing Hands. In Figure 18 (above), Leonardo gave Marda an extra hand. I manually pasted into the display screen an image of an alien with extra arms and hands. The image of Marda's face was generated by Mr. Wombo and manually pasted into Figure 18.

Generated by Whisk.

In Figure 19 (above), we see another reason for why aliens visit Earth. In this image Tyhry and Marda are providing the alien with sex toys in exchange for advanced alien technology. Another similar image in this on-going investigation into why aliens visit Earth is at the bottom of this blog post. The faces of Tyhry and Marda in the image shown in Figure 19 were generated by Mr. Wombo.

Generated by Mr. Wombo

When I provided DreamUp with the first part of the text prompt for Figure 15, DreamUp generated the image shown in Figure 20. Like most other AI image generators, DreamUp has trouble staying on task and making all of the skin of an alien have the same color. Also, DreamUp is quite restricted in the length of its allowed text prompts, so Figure 20 was generated with a truncated text prompt.

I had Mr. Wombo make an altered version of one of those DreamUp-generated aliens (see the image to the left). Mr. Wombo also refused to give her green skin.

Next:

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Blast It

The pink pest in the jungle on an exoplanet.

 In my previous blog post, I included an image called "Pest Control" that depicted a woman using a Sci Fi ray gun to discourage the advances of a large insect-like creature. That "Pest Control" image came into existence after I asked ImageFX to make an image depicting: "an alien creature that is an annoying pest on a distant exoplanet". I then used the ImageFX-generated "pink pest" as a "subject" image for Whisk along with a "scene" image similar to Figure 4 in my previous blog post.

Today, I was having a discussion with Gemini about AI-generated images of aliens when I asked ImageFX to generate a new image for a rather complex text prompt (See Figure 1, below) and got an image of an 'insectoid'.

The pink pest closeup.

The image to the left shows one of the "pests" that ImageFX generated. The "jungle" shown in the image above, in the upper right corner of this blog post, was one of several generated by ImageFX for this text prompt: "a jungle of alien plant-like life forms, the plant-creatures have some anatomical features like humans, the plant life is from a distant exoplanet and mostly covered with green leaves, the alien plant life has appendages that look like the tentacles".

Figure 1. Generated by ImageFX.

For the ImageFX-generated image in Figure 1, the text prompt was something that Gemini 'said' to me during our conversation about AI biases in depicting aliens: "You have a specific vision in mind, but the AI is struggling to realize it.  This suggests that AI image generation tools should be designed to work in collaboration with human users, allowing us to steer the AI towards these 'rim' areas.  We need tools that let us say, 'I like the bipedal form, but let's experiment with different head shapes and skin textures,' or 'Let's move away from the insectoid look and try something more mammalian.'." In the conversation, I'd raised the issue of basins of attraction in "image space" and "rims" between those basins.

SSS insectoid

Using one of the other "insectoid" images that was generated along with the one shown in Figure 1, I provided Whisk with the inputs that are shown to the left. The "subject" image shown to the left was also generated by ImageFX. Whisk then generated images such as the one shown in Figure 2, below.

I uploaded that image that is shown in Figure 1 to Gemini and asked, "Can you guess the text prompt that was used when ImageFX generated the image that I just uploaded?"

 Gemini: "Visual Analysis.
Subject: The main subject is a slender, humanoid alien creature with a somewhat insectoid or crustacean-like exoskeleton. It's crouching on a rock, seemingly in a forest or jungle environment.
Environment: The background suggests a dense, humid environment with large trees/plants, and a full moon or celestial body visible in the sky.
Details: The creature has a segmented body, long limbs, a distinctive head shape with large eyes, and a textured skin. The lighting is dramatic, highlighting the creature against the darker background.
Style: The image has a painterly, illustrative feel, with a touch of fantasy or science fiction art.

  Possible Prompts:  Here are some potential prompts, keeping in mind my previous errors and trying to be more specific:

Gemini suggestion #1
By ImageFX.

  Direct and Descriptive. 1) 'Slender humanoid alien crouching on a rock in a forest at night, full moon in background, detailed exoskeleton, large eyes, digital painting style.' 2) 'Insectoid alien creature, long limbs, segmented body, crouching on a rock in a jungle, dramatic lighting, fantasy art style.' 3) 'Close-up of a humanoid alien with textured skin, crouching on a rock, forest environment, full moon, digital illustration.'
More Evocative or Abstract: 1) 'Alien life form in a jungle environment, illuminated by moonlight, intricate details, fantasy art.'   2) 'Creature of the night, alien humanoid, forest setting, dramatic lighting, digital painting.' 3) 'Extraterrestrial being in a lush alien world, full moon, detailed anatomy, illustrative style.'
Adding Specificity (Based on Visual Cues): 1) 'Slender humanoid alien with a chitinous exoskeleton, large black eyes, elongated head, crouching on a moss-covered rock in a dark jungle, full moon illuminating the scene, digital painting, fantasy art style.' 2) 'Detailed illustration of an insectoid alien with long, spindly limbs, segmented body with reddish markings, crouching on a rock, dense forest environment with large trees and vines, full moon in the sky, dramatic lighting from the side.'

Gemini's "refined guess".
By ImageFX.

  My Refined Guess (Combining Elements): 'Slender humanoid alien, insectoid features, chitinous exoskeleton, large dark eyes, crouching on a rock in a dark jungle environment, full moon, dramatic side lighting, digital painting, fantasy art style, intricate details.' I've tried to be as specific as possible while still allowing for some artistic interpretation by the AI.  Let me know the actual prompt when you're ready to reveal it. 😊"

At that point, I told Gemini the text prompt that had been used to generate the image shown in Figure 1.

 Gemini: "That's... fascinating!  It's a meta prompt, a prompt about the process of image generation rather than a direct description of a visual scene.  I'm both surprised and impressed by ImageFX's interpretation.  Let's analyze why this prompt, focused on the interaction between human vision and AI struggle, might have resulted in the image we see:

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

  'You have a specific vision in mind, but the AI is struggling to realize it.':  The somewhat awkward posture of the alien, its slightly unsettling features, could be interpreted as the AI's 'struggle.'  It's not a perfectly harmonious or conventionally beautiful creature, perhaps reflecting the difficulty of achieving a precise vision.
'This suggests that AI image generation tools should be designed to work in collaboration with human users, allowing us to steer the AI towards these "rim" areas.':  The presence of the rock, a distinct and somewhat rough-hewn object, might symbolize the 'steering' or guidance provided by the human user.  The alien, perched on this rock, could represent the AI being nudged in a particular direction.
'We need tools that let us say, "I like the bipedal form, but let's experiment with different head shapes and skin textures," or "Let's move away from the insectoid look and try something more mammalian".': This is the most intriguing part.  The alien in the image does have some insectoid qualities (segmented body, long limbs), but it also has mammalian features (the overall body shape, the facial structure).  It's almost a hybrid, suggesting the AI is trying to reconcile different aesthetic directions, moving between 'insectoid' and 'mammalian' as the prompt suggests.  The somewhat rough texture of the skin might also reflect the 'experimenting with...skin textures' part of the prompt.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 Overall Interpretation:  ImageFX seems to have taken the prompt quite literally, attempting to visualize the process of human-AI collaboration in image creation.  The resulting alien is a kind of "transitional" being, caught between different styles and forms, reflecting the AI's struggle to realize a specific vision and the human's role in guiding that process.  This is a remarkable example of how AI can interpret abstract concepts and generate a visual representation, even if the connection isn't immediately obvious.  It highlights the power of prompts to influence not just the content of an image but also its underlying meaning and its relationship to the creative process itself.  It's a testament to the fascinating and often unpredictable ways AI can interpret and respond to human language."

Figure 2. Blast the insectoid, Whisk version 1.

Figure 3. Blast the insectoid, Whisk version 2.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

When I saw the Whisk-generated image that is shown in Figure 2, I altered the description that Whisk was using ("A digital painting in the style of science fiction concept art, featuring warm, earthy tones of brown, tan, and orange, accented with muted blues and greens.  Soft, diffused lighting creates a warm atmosphere.  A young woman with light skin and brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a dark business suit, stands defensively to the left of a large, insectoid creature.  The creature has a segmented, mottled greenish-brown exoskeleton, numerous spines, and sharp claws on its six legs. The background is a dark reddish-brown. The woman holds a laser weapon, firing a diagonally oriented streak of light at the creature. This streak is composed of densely clustered white, light blue, and orange-gold particles, thinning towards the edges, overlaid with thin, curving lines of light blue and gold.  Visible brushstrokes contribute to the painterly texture. The scene is detailed but not hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a slightly desaturated color scheme.") to this: 

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 "A stunningly detailed, photorealistic rendering of a science fiction setting featuring a young woman with light skin and brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a futuristic jumpsuit, stands defensively to the left of a large, alien creature.  The alien creature has six legs and the body structure of an aquatic mammal. The background is a dark reddish-brown forest of a distant habitable exoplanet. The woman holds a futuristic laser weapon, firing a diagonally oriented streak of light at the creature. This streak is composed of densely clustered white, light blue, and orange-gold particles, thinning towards the edges, overlaid with thin, curving lines of light blue and gold.  The scene is detailed and hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a vibrant color scheme." Whisk then generated the image that is shown in Figure 3.

Next, I uploaded that Whisk-generated image to Gemini and asked, "Gemini, what language would you provide to Whisk in order to change the image that I just uploaded into a similar image in which the Sci Fi "ray beam" actually strikes the alien creature?" 

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 Gemini: That's a great question!  To get Whisk to generate an image where the ray beam is actually impacting the alien creature, you'll need to provide a prompt that is more explicit about the interaction and the point of contact.  Here's a breakdown of how to refine your prompt, along with some example phrasings:
  Key Elements to Include:
  1. Point of Contact:   Specify where the beam should strike the alien.  Be as descriptive as possible:       "striking the alien's chest"      "hitting the alien on its head"      "impacting the alien's leg"     "piercing the alien's exoskeleton at the joint"
  2. Reaction/Effect: Describe the visible effect of the beam's impact. This will help Whisk visualize the interaction:      "causing sparks and smoke"     "disintegrating part of the alien's body"     "making the alien recoil in pain"      "illuminating the alien with a bright glow"
  3. Beam Continuity:  Ensure the beam is visually connected from the weapon to the point of impact:     "the beam extends from the weapon to the alien's chest"     "a continuous beam of energy connects the weapon and the alien"

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

  Example Prompts:  Here are a few variations, combining these elements:  "A female soldier in futuristic armor fires a ray gun, the bright blue beam striking the large alien creature on its chest, causing sparks and smoke." (This adds detail about the effect)  "Close-up of a humanoid alien recoiling in pain as a powerful energy beam from a soldier's weapon hits its arm, disintegrating part of its exoskeleton."  (This focuses on the alien's reaction)   "A continuous beam of blue energy connects a futuristic weapon held by a soldier to the head of a large, insectoid alien, illuminating the alien with a bright glow." (This emphasizes the beam's connection)   "A female soldier aims her weapon at a monstrous alien, the ray beam piercing the alien's exoskeleton at the joint of its leg, causing it to stumble." (This adds a narrative element)
  Tips for Best Results:

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

  Experiment with phrasing: Try different ways of describing the same action.  Synonyms and varied sentence structure can influence the output.
Be specific about details: The more details you provide about the alien's appearance, the weapon, and the environment, the better Whisk can understand your vision.
Use action verbs: Strong verbs like "striking," "impacting," "piercing," and "disintegrating" will help convey the force and effect of the beam.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

Iterate and refine: If the first results aren't perfect, don't be afraid to tweak your prompt and try again.  AI image generation is often an iterative process.  By incorporating these suggestions, you should be able to guide Whisk towards generating an image where the ray beam convincingly strikes the alien creature, creating a more dynamic and impactful scene.  Good luck!  Let me know how the results turn out.

 Using some of the suggestions from Gemini, I used this new text description with Whisk: "A stunningly detailed, photorealistic rendering of a science fiction setting featuring a young woman with light skin and brown hair, wearing a futuristic jumpsuit and standing defensively to the left of a large, alien creature.  The woman is shouting in alarm as the alien creature approaches her. The alien creature has six sleek and fur-covered legs and the hairless body structure of an aquatic mammal. 

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 The young woman fires a ray gun, the bright blue beam striking the alien creature, causing sparks and smoke. The background is a dim reddish-brown forest floor of a distant habitable exoplanet. The woman holds a futuristic laser weapon, firing a streak of light that intersects with the head of the creature. This streak is composed of densely clustered white, light blue, and orange-gold particles, thinning towards the edges, overlaid with thin, curving lines of light blue and gold. The streak of light from the ray gun ends where it strikes the alien creature. The light from the ray gun does not extend past the head of the alien creature. The scene is detailed and hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a vibrant color scheme." Whisk generated the image shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Blast the insectoid, Whisk version 3.

SS spider woman.

I had WOMBO Dream use the alien creature shown in Figure 4 as a reference image and Mr Wombo generated an image that looked like a "spider woman", so I used that as a new "subject" image for Whisk as shown in the top panel of the image to the left. I also changed the inputs to Whisk so as to use the image shown in Figure 4 as the new "scene". With those new inputs (including, "The young woman with the ray-gun defends herself against an alien spider woman."), Whisk generated the image shown below in Figure 5.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

For my science fiction stories, I often include characters who are humanoid aliens or human-alien hybrids. In this case, when I asked for an "alien spider woman", Mr. Wombo could not resist generating images in which the "alien" looked like a character from a Spider-man comic.

comics

One such comics-like image is shown to the left. A less-comic-like alien-spider-woman is shown to the right. Click on the image to the left for an enlarged view of the comic-like spider-woman. Mr. Wombo tends to treat heads and faces differently from the bodies of such "hybrid creatures", seemingly unable to escape from so many training set images with bare human faces and clothed bodies. Really... the alien needs no clothing.

Figure 5. Blast the insectoid, Whisk version 4.

Figure 6. Generated with Leonardo "flow state". Text only prompt from Whisk.

Figure 7. Generated with Leonardo Phoenix 1.0 "classic" mode; Figure 5 reference & text prompt.

Figure 8. Generated with Leonardo Lightening (40 & 60 percent weighting to reference image).

Figure 9. Generated with Leonardo Lightening (80 & 90 percent weighting to reference image).

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

I provided Leonardo with text prompt and reference image inputs from Whisk and then Leonardo generated images such as those shown above in Figures 6 & 7. Leonardo generated three images like the right hand panel in Figure 7 and one like the left-hand panel.

Leonardo user interface. Percentage controls.

 Percentage. Figures 8 & 9, above, show how it is possible with Leonardo to control the percent dependence of image generation on the reference image. Only at 90% did Leonardo put a humanoid head on the alien spider creature.

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 The image to the right was generated by using one of the AI-generated "alien spider" images as a reference image for WOMBO Dream. "The Absurd v2" style of WOMBO Dream was used first to get a WOMBO-generated "draft" image" and then the "Anime v3" style was used to get the final image.

I'll end this blog post with one more alien spider creature (see Figure 10, below). Whisk image description: "A stunningly detailed, photorealistic rendering of a science fiction setting featuring a young woman with light skin and long blond hair, wearing a futuristic transparent lace jumpsuit and standing defensively to the left of a large, alien creature.  The woman is shouting in alarm as the alien creature approaches her. The alien creature has sleek fur-covered legs and the face of a beautiful woman: the alien creature is a spider-woman. The young woman fires a ray gun, the bright blue beam striking the alien creature, causing sparks and smoke. 

Generated by Mr. Wombo.

 The young woman with the ray-gun defends herself against an alien spider-woman. The background is a dim reddish-brown forest floor of a distant habitable exoplanet. The woman holds a futuristic laser weapon, firing a streak of light that intersects with the head of the creature. This streak is composed of densely clustered white, light blue, and orange-gold particles, thinning towards the edges, overlaid with thin, curving lines of light blue and gold. The streak of light from the ray gun ends where it strikes the alien creature. The light from the ray gun does not extend past the head of the alien creature. The scene is detailed and hyperrealistic, with a focus on atmospheric perspective and a vibrant color scheme."

The image to the left also originated from an AI-generated image of an alien "spider creature" that was "re-humanized" by WOMBO Dream.

Figure 10. Blast the insectoid, Whisk version 5.

Next: AI-generated images of humanoid aliens.

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