Recipe one: How to train an AI model using fingerprints

Exactly.ai allows users to generate art by training models using patterns and textures. As an artist I’m passionate about linocut, and one day I noticed that linocut strokes were strikingly similar to human fingerprints.

What would happen if I uploaded fingerprints to exactly.ai? After a lot of experimenting, I got some intriguing results. Here’s how I did it.

1. Go to Google and search for images from open sources. Look for linear graphics, so that you can increase the contrast to make the prints clearer. Plus, make sure the image is large enough (the shortest size should be at least 512 pixels).

2. Upload the images to exactly.ai to create a model. I described my images as ‘a fingerprint on a white background’, which is what exactly.ai suggested I use.

3. It’s best to test your first batch of generations with some basic prompts. Below, we see man, face, cat, and dog. These didn't turn out that similar to my original images, but you can spot a little flavour of the fingerprints in the brush strokes.

4. I scratched those, and started fresh with some new prompts, like landscape and mountain. The results were much closer to the hypnotic effect that attracted me to fingerprints.

5. Still, I wanted to create something more concrete. Here, I added the word ‘fingerprint’ to the previous prompts, to echo the descriptions that I initially labelled my source images with. This is where the magic starts to happen:

6. As I continued to experiment I wondered, what would happen if I copy-and-pasted my prompt multiple times? Like so:

7. Here’s what I achieved:

Once your model is working, think about what kinds of subjects would look best with the technique you’ve crafted. Some styles may lend themselves better to abstract objects, figurative portraits, or landscapes, for example.

This recipe is just the beginning. Interesting patterns and textures surround all of our lives – they may even exist at the tip of your fingers. Try training your own model today, then keep playing with it to formulate a recipe that works.