Now, I’m not exactly sure what tool or combination of AI tools the owner of this account is using, nor am I sure exactly what sort of post-processing or Photoshopping is going on, either. I’m not sure that especially matters, and the account owner seems reluctant to divulge those details, which I absolutely understand. I don’t really need to know the exact grade of wire used in an Alexander Calder sculpture or mobile to appreciate it, and I think the same goes here. What I can tell is that Automotive.ai seems to specialize in mash-ups of sorts, taking two kinds of cars and having the AI meld them together to create something new, often something new and strange and wonderful. For example, look at this melding of Nissan Z cars and one of my personal favorite cars, the Nissan Pao:
A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) Holy crap, those are fantastic, right? There’s definite Z-car proportions and feel, but with the retro-inspired details of the Pao. It’s so good. I guess Automotive.ai liked the mainstream Nissan/Pike car mashups, too, because there’s more, like this combination of Nissans Figaro and Juke:
A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) Again, that works so much better than you’d think. The Pike Factory elements make these feel like Juke generations from the ’60s and ’70s, too. Here’s another mashup that makes you realize there’s something you didn’t even know could exist, yet somehow you need more of it, desperately: BMW and American muscle cars, all whipped together into a frothy bit of wonderful. Look, just look:
A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) Those are incredible, right? How do those work so damn well, and how are the styles mixed with such balance? Some of those manage to hit just that right balance between BMW Neue Klasse and ’60s American Iron, and I’m not even sure I could describe it properly in words, and I freaking write for a living. Whatever the hell is going on in that unknowable black box inside some remote servers running these if-then chains of AI programs, it sure works well for whatever the hell this actually is. Let’s look at a slightly different one, because this one isn’t so much a mashup as it is an imagined alternate history: These images celebrate an imagined 70-year history of the Smart Car, showing Smart Car development going back to the 1930s or 1940s, and incorporating both period synthetic photographs and illustrations. They’re all so damn plausible, and feel like so many microcars of the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s and ’80s, from Trojans to Isettas to Scootacars to Messerschmitts and on and on. A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) It’s clear the AI here is referencing many, many thousands of reference photos of cars of a given era to synthesize the right combination of details to make these work, I’ve rarely felt like I could be replaced by a computer (my particular form of idiocy usually causes computing devices to wonder what this thing called “love” is before exploding) but, shit, this one does make me feel funny. I mean, these are the kinds of ridiculous things that I have drawn for years, or, recently, have been demanding talented people like The Bishop do here. Even so, this is still just a tool, and it’s not like the AI can just conjure up the idea; there’s always a place for the artist, even for such automated tools like these. It’s still strange, though.
A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) Occasionally, we get a bit more of aa glimpse into the methods used; the above set of images are the result of this prompt:
1: Yukihiko Yaguchi 2: Ralph Gilles 3: Jack Telnack 4: Bill Mitchell 5: Virgil Exner 6: Chris Bangle 7: Jerry Hirschberg 8: Harley Earl A post shared by Automotive AI (@automotive.ai) I would love to own or see most of these in person. Just like with art, I don’t think this will replace automotive design, rather it will be another tool in the designers chest to see what works/what doesn’t etc. These are better than anything I’ve seen a human designer create in at least the last few years. https://i.imgur.com/O8j6TSj.jpg Look at that. A no bullshit design that focuses on all out function. Low drag, with the looks coming into their own, even though they aren’t a major consideration. THAT is the what sports cars should be. It’s also how you get massive EV range on tiny battery packs, to keep costs, and more importantly, weight, down as low as possible. Tired of the all-sizzle, no steak, overstyled, overweight, overpriced BS that is ubiquitous on today’s auto market. Give me slippery, light, simple, low-tech machines that don’t need much power to go fast, and then shove in them as much power as can fit. It matters a little bit, because these all seem way too well done, which means this is either the result of an amazing AI engine or- most likely, in my opinion – heavily edited images starting with an AI-generated design. And the designs are great, but if they’re heavily edited, the part of the instagram bio that says “brought to you by AI” isn’t entirely accurate. And to be honest, I kinda hope this is not an actual super advanced Ai, because if it is, holy shit, this is getting out of hand.
