New AI notices invisible similarities between works of art

New system developed by MIT researchers finds subtle similarities between works

art.The MosAIc model scans images and then uses deep networks to find similarities in them - these could be cultural similarities, similar working methods, or details that even art historians might not notice.

To use MosAIc, the user downloadsthere images, and the algorithm finds similar works of art. In one example, MosAIc linked Francisco de Zurbaran's The Martyrdom of Saint Serapion and Jan Asselin's The Frightened Swan. The researchers explained that the two artists never met each other, did not correspond, but the model was able to find several plots that underlie the two works.

A particularly challenging aspect of developing MosAIc wascreating an algorithm that can find not only  similarities in color or style, but also subjects in works of art. The researchers studied the deep network of connections that art historians had already noticed, and the algorithm studied the logic of how some works of art are connected to others.

The researchers also used a new structureimage search data - KNN Tree, it combines pictures into a tree-like structure. To find the closest match of one image to another, the algorithm starts with the trunk of the links and then follows the nearest perspective branch. Thus, the data structure improves on its own.

Scientists hope that their development can beuseful in other areas - the humanities, social sciences and medicine. “These areas are rich in information that has never been processed through our methods. They can become a source of inspiration for both scientists and people who are simply interested. "

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