Now you can generate cute anime girls (waifus) like what many have done with the website enabled by an AI (artificial intelligence),”MakeGirlsMoe. Details like hair color, hair style and eye color can be modified. And most importantly, you can provide a “noise” image so that the result is completely yours.
The website was brought online in August 2017 by a then Chinese student at Shanghai Fudan University. The student, who identified himself as jin yanghuadecided to make the entire project open source on Github. The generated images are not very large, but most of them look good, with some images looking a bit distorted.
Jin said he made all of this happen with reinforced machine learning. His code was based on a neural network framework called “Chainers“, but Jin modified the framework to suit his own needs. Since its launch, many people are actively sharing their creations on Twitter, most of them Chinese and Japanese, who were amazed by the fast performance of the program. «It is the ultimate tool for generating waifus!», mentioned a popular comment.
The existence of this website shows that the AI industry is no longer simply the bet for the future of big companies, it is an interesting game that everyone can play. More and more AI tools are being developed, some of which are very easy to use, making it possible for non-professionals to join the game. In China, big companies like search engine Baidu and gaming giant Tencent are trying to create user-friendly AI frameworks, hoping to attract more developers to work on their platform. There is currently no leading company in China’s AI circle, so the platform war can be very fierce.
Another reason for this image generating site to go viral is moe culture. In the world of Japanese animation, “moe” is the word for “cute.” Anime lovers today use this word every day to show their love for people and things.
Chinese anime fans also find this word interesting and use it frequently. So moe culture basically means things related to anime, manga, and other “two-dimensional” art forms. People who are fond of moe culture in China are usually in their 20s or even younger. Boys and girls are well known for spending more money on things they love.
For example, they want to travel to anime events more often than other people. According to a recent report by Chinese travel service Mafengwo, 42 percent of people under the age of 27 intend to travel to places where anime and movies are made. This can be a great potential market opportunity for the travel business. Font: CGTN-NEWS
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