And how to avoid the common mistake
There’s a new AI image fad spreading on the internet, one that could bring new life to those dusty shoeboxes and family albums. ChatGPT users have discovered that the AI assistant can take old photos and mimic a restored, colorized version.
I first saw it discussed on a Reddit thread, one that was initially skeptical of ChatGPT’s restoration ability for good reason.
The AI was far more likely to take an old headshot and ‚restore‘ it by making a headshot of someone who might be the cousin of the person in the original photo. Thanks to tips shared by others on Reddit and Instagram on how to make it work properly, I cobbled together a prompt that does a pretty good job of it.
The prompt I settled on is: “Please upscale and colorize this photo while keeping it faithful to the time period. Do not change the arrangement, expressions, background, or attire; only add period-accurate color and details. The new photo should overlay the original exactly.“
It’s not actually restoring the image, but you might think of it as a recreation by an art forager with a modernist streak. The results are in color, with better resolution, any damage repaired, and even some lost details reimaged.
Again, it’s important to remember this isn’t the same thing as enhancing the actual photo, but it’s amusing, and certainly feels less problematic than swiping Studio Ghibli’s style.
