This experiment perfectly captures the spirit of 2024—a year when we find ourselves both captivated and concerned by the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence.
Since 2013, we’ve been sharing our photography on Facebook as a numbered series called “Random Photos.” Occasionally, some of these snapshots also make their way onto this blog. The idea behind the series is simple: to showcase visually striking, non-touristy images paired with the shortest captions possible—ideally, just one word.
For a twist, we decided to invite a few AI systems to join the fun. Their task? Create a one-word caption, a micro-storytelling caption, one in the style of William Shakespeare, and even a Japanese haiku to complement the photo.
Random photo #1602 was taken in St. Kilda near Melbourne, Australia. My caption is—”fetch” as shown above on the cover.
ChatGPT came back with “Fetch!” and Gemini with “Splashtacular!“
Shakespere prose by ChatGPT: “Doth this beast, with joyous haste, pursue Neptune’s fleeting treasure?“
Japanese haiku by ChatGPT:
Splashes mark the chase,
A dog dances with the waves—
Joy knows no borders.
We preferred ChatGPT’s results.
As an extra challenge, we also asked the AI to suggest a theme song—any genre—that best matches the vibe of the image. Gemini suggested “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men. We likely all agree that Gemini won this round.
ChatGPT suggested “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + The Machine.
We will play this game again with some other random photos and post the most amusing output by the latest batch of AI systems. This game is a bit like playing “fetch” with these AI systems.
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