The Loose Cannon: Dumpster Diving into the World of AI

I’m no dumpster diver, but I was recently tempted to jump in one. I happened on a dumpster that contained the personal belongings of a recently deceased person that I did not know. I can’t go into the details of how I know that, but they aren’t relevant to this story.

In the dumpster I spotted several paintings that appeared fully intact. This one immediately caught my eye:

I REALLY liked it and thought it would look good in my garage. But it felt just a bit too creepy for me to consider retrieving it. I took a picture of that painting and walked away.

If you have ever watched the program “Antiques Road Show,” you know that occasionally someone will bring in something they bought at a yard sale or found in an attic that turned out to be very valuable.

I went home and just couldn’t shake the feeling that the dumpster paintings would look good in my garage and could potentially be very valuable. What to do?

I do a lot of my research online, but I didn’t have anything to go on other than that picture. Maybe I could find an app for that sort of thing, but I couldn’t even see the name of the artist on those pictures.

When I brought up the browser prompt, I noticed for the first time that I could add a picture with my query. So, I did. I attached that picture with only this question: “Who painted this?” I didn’t expect to receive much back.

But I was wrong! Look at what that simple question returned:

As I read that, I thought the painting was just one copy of many copies. I’d be OK with a copy. It didn’t need to be an original to look good in my garage.

But I continued reading:

Holy Moly!!! I was amazed that AI could provide that much information in a matter of seconds when all I provided was a picture; and that AI could detect that the painting was from a “Paint by Numbers” kit. I had actually considered dumpster diving for somebody’s “Paint by Numbers” painting.

The power of AI both impresses me and scares me.

I decided to explore that power a bit more. I remembered finding this thing in my bathroom sink drawer that I couldn’t identify. Was it some kind of drug paraphernalia? If so, how did it get there? So I asked AI:

Oh yea, that’s right. It is a tongue cleaner that I’ve never used with my Waterpik.

I continued exploring.

From my column on collecting antique bottles:

“The picture below was taken from the footbridge over Hopper Creek just north of the French Laundry Garden. I spotted what appears to be an old car jack. Can you spot it?”