Generated Cairo Facade by Hassan Ragab (AI)

A photo purportedly showing medieval Islamic architecture and a fragment of an old Cairo, Egypt facade is circulating on social media.

The original photo was created using artificial intelligence programs.

Hassan Ragab, an Egyptian designer and artist, posted the photo, along with others, on his Instagram account on August 17, 2022.

“The Cairo Sketches Ai generated patterns exploring Islamic Cairo architectural Facades through 3d fractals,” Ragab explains in the photo caption.

Creating Art With AI Algorithms

An unidentified phone bidder paid $432,500 for a distorted image created by an AI algorithm at Christie’s in 2018. This event had a significant impact on both the general public and the art communities.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder conducted a study in which they asked participants to differentiate between human-created artwork and artificial intelligence (AI). The study concluded that respondents had difficulty distinguishing between the two.

To create AI art, artists create algorithms that “learn” a specific aesthetic by examining a large number of photos rather than following a set of rules. The program then strives to create new images while adhering to the previously learned aesthetics.