Making a Little Mermaid with AI
I had created several AI images for an acquaintance at a senior citizens’ coffee club, either for her enjoyment or as gifts to friends. Her latest request: Make something with the Little Mermaid, either based on the Disney character or the original story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
Attempts to create “The Little Mermaid meets The Sopranos” or “The Little Mermaids in a Can” proved unsuccessful. I tried a more conventional request: The Little Mermaid riding atop a whale and holding a giant abalone shell that deflects a harpoon. The mermaid, whale, and shell came out okay but neither Grok nor Meta could get the harpoon right.
I then turned to Copilot with a simpler request: Show a 19th century-style illustration of the Little Mermaid atop a whale. Apparently unaware of the public domain creation of Hans Christian Andersen, Copilot replied that it couldn’t copy a Disney copyrighted character but could give me a generic mermaid.
Ok. It gave me a much larger than life mermaid atop the whale. I asked for a smaller mermaid. Copilot complied but the mermaid’s larger tail from the first request was still in the picture. I asked Copilot to delete the appendage and, voila, the resulting image:
I had created several AI images for an acquaintance at a senior citizens’ coffee club, either for her enjoyment or as gifts to friends. Her latest request: Make something with the Little Mermaid, either based on the Disney character or the original story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
Attempts to create “The Little Mermaid meets The Sopranos” or “The Little Mermaids in a Can” proved unsuccessful. I tried a more conventional request: The Little Mermaid riding atop a whale and holding a giant abalone shell that deflects a harpoon. The mermaid, whale, and shell came out okay but neither Grok nor Meta could get the harpoon right.
I then turned to Copilot with a simpler request: Show a 19th century-style illustration of the Little Mermaid atop a whale. Apparently unaware of the public domain creation of Hans Christian Andersen, Copilot replied that it couldn’t copy a Disney copyrighted character but could give me a generic mermaid.
Ok. It gave me a much larger than life mermaid atop the whale. I asked for a smaller mermaid. Copilot complied but the mermaid’s larger tail from the first request was still in the picture. I asked Copilot to delete the appendage and, voila, the resulting image:
I noticed Copilot had switched from a square to a vertical image, probably for better rendering on the vertical screens of smart phones.
Using Microsoft Word, I printed out an image for my acquaintance on an 8 ½ by 11-inch sheet of 24 pound extra white paper. To avoid creating an image from my ink jet printer that was too dark and muddy, I reduced the transparency by one factor, using the Picture Format tool. Ideally, to create an image for framing, one would use the thickest paper possible or send the image to a professional who converts digital images into durable art.
My resulting image is not typical of pictures created by those dabbling in AI, who generally strive for incredibly detailed and colorful images.
I noticed Copilot had switched from a square to a vertical image, probably for better rendering on the vertical screens of smart phones.
Using Microsoft Word, I printed out an image for my acquaintance on an 8 ½ by 11-inch sheet of 24 pound extra white paper. To avoid creating an image from my ink jet printer that was too dark and muddy, I reduced the transparency by one factor, using the Picture Format tool. Ideally, to create an image for framing, one would use the thickest paper possible or send the image to a professional who converts digital images into durable art.
My resulting image is not typical of pictures created by those dabbling in AI, who generally strive for incredibly detailed and colorful images.
May 27, 2025