Google frees its dream robots to run wild across the internet

Google has made its “inceptionism” algorithm available to all, allowing coders around the world to replicate the process the company used to create mesmerising dreamscapes with its image processing neural-network.

The system, which works by repeatedly feeding an image through an AI which enhances features it recognises, was first demonstrated by Google two weeks ago. It can alter an existing image to the extent that it looks like an acid trip, or begin with random noise to generate an entirely original dreamscape.

Now that the code for the system is public, users have been playing around with it – apparently competing to see who can make the most nightmarish images possible.

Running Larry Page through the system gives him a few too many mouths, for instance:

and a half-eaten donut is ... MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?

And there are cats in the sky:

Running the already-freaky Philip K Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly through the system ups the weird quota:

And in a double Philip K Dick reference: yes, Androids do dream of electric sheep. I know, I’ve made that joke before, I do not care, look at these freaky sheep:

You can find more pics all over Facebook, Twitter and even Google+ on the hashtag “deepdream”