Earlier today, as a memory, Microsoft OneDrive presented photos taken on this date in 2022—when the village of University Heights celebrated 25 years of its iconic sign. I had captured the majority of pics using Leica Q2 Monochrom, which was beyond my meager amateur skills. I sold the camera to a doctor in December 2024.
Looking over the selection, I chose one random street shot for artificial intelligence embellishment. I clicked the “Restyle with AI” button and typed “colorize”, which took surprising amount of time to do. The app, running on Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, presented three options. I saved them all for your review, because the AI did more than add color; it made some surprising changes to the content that you must see.
The first render is closest to the Featured Image, but with some way wrong color choices (the UH sign, for example).
In the second shot, look at the changes, all throughout the scene. Different items are under the table. The vendor is removed, as is the gent seen walking past the two women. He is replaced with someone walking in the same direction as them. Their outfits and backpacks changed, as did they. Then there is the big gal at the table. She isn’t the same person, and is her race different, too? You tell me.
Look how altered is the woman center to the right walking away. She goes from a tall skinny lady in jeans to a chubbier older woman wearing shorts to another body-type tall woman in shorts with severely cropped hair. That’s among other changes.
Reminder, all I asked: “colorize”. So why would the AI utility recreate essentially alternate realities? You tell me. We might as well be peering into parallel worlds, like those explored in TV show “Sliders“.
Circling back, vitals for the black-and-white original: f/5.6, ISO 320, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 6:32 p.m. PDT.