Riding the generative AI wave, Picsart, the developer behind various photo and video editing apps for the web and mobile devices, is introducing a new iOS app that transforms photos and drawings into digital art. Called SketchAI, the app lets users sketch a picture or upload an existing image and apply different artistic styles to it.

SketchAI is easy enough to use. It features several pre-selected styles that can applied to creations, including ink drawing, pencil sketch, and the artist-inspired “Da Vinci” and “Van Gogh.” In addition to sketching or uploading a photo, users can add a prompt describing an image (e.g. “Boat at night pointing by Aivazovsky”) to enhance the generated results.

SketchAI offers five free creations. Unlocking unlimited generations requires a subscription ranging from $5.99 per week to $17.99 per month or $69.99 per year.

“We’re planning a lot in the way of making the user experience, processing and image quality better, and adding more prompts and artistic styles,” Picsart VP of product Lusine Harutyunyan told TechCrunch in an email interview. “We’re also thinking about adding features for the user to enhance and play with their results, as Picsart is known for its powerful and fun editing tools. Along with building on our main platform, we’re excited to offer more unique entry points for creative technologies like this.”

Image Credits: Picsart

“These are very early days for generative AI as a whole and this technology will continue to evolve quickly and we will continue to adhere to industry standards and best practices as it does. Our goal is to empower creators and we support artists everywhere,” Harutyunyan said.

Stability AI was even the subject of a recent critical letter from U.S. House Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) to the National Security Advisor (NSA) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in which she urged the NSA and OSTP to address the release of “unsafe AI models” that “do not moderate content made on their platforms.”

Image Credits: Picsart

“The baseline model we’re using is trained on data, not specific material and not reproducing a specific artist’s work,” Harutyunyan said.

“As between Picsart and the user, the user owns the rights in the content,” Harutyunyan said. “However, users should be aware of the inherent limitations that come along with generative AI.”

Picsart’s AI-powered SketchAI app turns images and outlines into digital art by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

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