Google AutoDraw Turns Doodles Into Art
Not everyone can draw, so Google created an AI that turns our terrible sketches into works of art.
By Matthew Humphries •
This story originally appeared on PCMag
Last November, Google asked people to start drawing doodles to aid an AI experiment called Quick, Draw! It was an example of machine learning, with the doodles we drew helping to teach the AI's neural network what different shapes represent so it could better predict what it was viewing.
Several months on, and Quick, Draw! has become a real service in the form of AutoDraw. The AI became good enough at predicting what we draw to be of use to us non-artists.
AutoDraw is a web-based drawing tool that works on every platform you use, be it a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop PC. It offers users a canvas on which to doodle objects they'd like to have better-looking versions of, for use in such things as a birthday card or party invite. AutoDraw looks at the doodle, figures out what object you drew and offers to replace it with a more professional version drawn by a real artist.
The beauty of AutoDraw is, it can make most design ideas look like they were create by a pro. And it does that without the user having to install any software. Just doodle what you want on your screen and AutoDraw takes care of the rest.
On loading AutoDraw in your web browser of choice you get what looks like a simplified art program. Simply start doodling and the AI's best guesses will appear along the top of the window. Chances are, AutoDraw knows exactly what you are trying to draw and offers several alternatives to use instead.
Once your doodle looks like a masterpiece, it's possible to download the image as a .PNG, share it via a generated URL or directly on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
