Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke is quite impressed with open source artificially intelligent (AI) image generator Stable Diffusion. “AI can now draw the owl. #stablediffusion,” he said in a tweet. He was among many users on Twitter that used the new technology and created an image of their choice.
AI can now draw the owl. #stablediffusion pic.twitter.com/XmjVMB6tRH
— tobi lutke (@tobi) August 24, 2022
A Twitter user by the handle ‘@RemitNotPaucity’ shared a video of the software, explaining how it works. “Gonna ship a Figma plugin to go from prompts + simple shapes to design ideas using #stablediffusion #aiart,” he captioned the video.
Gonna ship a Figma plugin to go from prompts + simple shapes to design ideas using #stablediffusion #aiart pic.twitter.com/0VYais9C6X
— Antonio Cao (@RemitNotPaucity) August 24, 2022
Tom Goldstein, Associate Professor at Maryland, explained how diffusion models work in a Twitter thread, starting with: “Diffusion models like #DALLE and #StableDiffusion are state of the art for image generation, yet our understanding of them is in its infancy. This thread introduces the basics of how diffusion models work, how we understand them, and why I think this understanding is broken.”
Diffusion models like #DALLE and #StableDiffusion are state of the art for image generation, yet our understanding of them is in its infancy. This thread introduces the basics of how diffusion models work, how we understand them, and why I think this understanding is broken.🧵 pic.twitter.com/IuZIVegWGz
— Tom Goldstein (@tomgoldsteincs) August 24, 2022
According to Goldstein, diffusion models degrade image by adding Gaussian noise and then restore it to remove noise. He was of the opinion that “this generator doesn’t work so well”.
On Monday, Stable Diffusion was released for public use following its release for researchers. “This technology has tremendous potential to transform the way we communicate and we look forward to building a happier, more communicative and creative future with you all,” the company said in a release.
Stable Diffusion is receiving mixed reviews of users on social media. However, only time and user experience will tell if this software helps Shopify merchants in their stores. Or who knows if CEO Lutke is planning something for the future.
