Digital art can be found on thousands of popular websites on the internet; however, a new app may be changing the way some users interact with it.
Recently, a new app called Lensa can turn selfies into animated, digital images. Since its launch, the images have been found frequently on Facebook, Twitter and especially Instagram.
Lensa creates “highly stylized, eye-catching portraits,” but many critics believe the images depict unnatural physical features and should not be considered digital art.
I’d Like to Try Lensa
A good place to start would be with Lensa’s “Magic Avatars” feature. In order to use it, you’ll need to download the Lensa app on your phone.
There is an annual subscription fee of $35.99, which includes photo editing services. Users can sign-up for a free seven-day trial.
During the free trial you can buy 50 avatars for $3.99, 100 for $5.99 or 200 for $7.99.
What Kind of Images Work Best?
Lensa recommends each user to upload between 10 and 20 different selfies. The pictures should be close-ups and have different expressions. It is important to remember that all users should be 13 years of age or older. The apps’ artificial intelligence will use algorithms to create new images and show the best results possible.
What do Digital Artists Think?
According to the company’s privacy policy, Lensa’s technology applies a deep learning model called Stable Diffusion, which uses scraped digital art on the internet from a database called LAION-5B-to train its artificial intelligence. As of now, digital artists do not have the ability to add or remove their art from the database. Artists are not credited or compensated when their works are used to develop images.
This establishes an environment of unfair competition. Digital art can not compete with the supply and demand of images created and distributed by AI. According to Lensa’s owner Prisma: “Whilst both humans and AI learn about artistic styles in semi-similar ways, there are some fundamental differences: AI is capable of rapidly analyzing and learning from large sets of data, but it does not have the same level of attention and appreciation for art as a human being,” the company expressed on Twitter. “The outputs can’t be described as exact replicas of any particular artwork.”
So, Does Lensa Really Create Digital Art?
It’s too early to tell how social media users may incorporate the usage of Lensa’s services. They have gone viral in the last week, but it is unclear if this will be sustained momentum. If Lensa is here to stay, it will have a tremendous impact on digital artists’ ability to share their creations on social media and earn revenue.