--- title: "Researcher Says an Image Generating AI Invented Its Own Language" description: "OpenAI's mind-blowing text-to-image AI system called DALL-E2 appears to have created its own written language, according to a computer science PhD student." date: "2022-06-02" modified: "2022-06-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/researcher-image-generating-ai-invented-language" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "artificial intelligence" - "OpenAI" --- # Researcher Says an Image Generating AI Invented Its Own Language ![OpenAI's mind-blowing text-to-image AI system called DALL-E2 appears to have created its own written language, according to a computer science PhD student.]() *\Image: Getty/Futurism\* OpenAI's mind-blowing text-to-image AI system called DALL-E2 appears to have created its own written language, according to Giannis Daras, a computer science PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin. DALL-E2 made a big splash earlier this year with its uncanny ability to [turn text prompts into photorealistic or even artistically styled images]() β€” and now it sounds like it may be even more powerful and mysterious than we thought, capable of generating its own secret code. For instance, [Daras wrote in a viral Twitter thread](), asking the algorithm to generate an image of "farmers talking about vegetables" generates text with the unknown word "vicootes." But if you put the word "vicootes" into the algorithm, it [spits out pictures of vegetables](). Even more weirdly, [Daras added](), was that the image of the farmers contained the apparent nonsense text "poploe vesrreaitars." Feed *that* into the system, and you get a bunch of images of birds. "It seems that the farmers are talking about birds, messing with their vegetables!" [Daras wrote](). All told, Daras makes the case in a new [yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper]() penned with a colleague, this advanced image-generating AI appears to have generated a "hidden vocabulary" underlying or working in parallel with its primary function β€” yet another example, perhaps, of how [difficult it is to explain the workings of advanced AI](). "DALLE-2 has a secret language," Daras wrote, [later adding]() that the "discovery of the DALLE-2 language creates many interesting security and interpretability challenges." It's worth noting that Daras' conclusions are still somewhat tenuous. As he notes in the paper, the results aren't 100 percent consistent. Sometimes, the prompt "Contarra ccetnxniams luryca tanniounons" generates pictures of bugs, while other times it generates images of "mostly animals." Not everybody is convinced by Daras' theory, either. "My best guess?" research analyst Benjamin Hilton [argued](). "It’s random chance. Or just maybe (if you really press me) 'Apoploe vesrreaitais' looks like a binomial name for some birds or bugs." "To me this is all starting to look a lot more like stochastic, random noise, than a secret DALL-E language," Hilton added. Another possibility is that we're readying way too far into it, discovering the AI system's ability to create shortcuts by turning images into code, as [*Vice* points out](). Needless to say, it'll be interesting to see further scrutiny of Daras' claims from the researcher community. If it does pass muster, we may be looking at a fascinating new development in the field β€” or, perhaps, we're giving it far too much credit and reading between the lines just a little too much. **READ MORE:** [Image-Generating AI Keeps Doing Weird Stuff We Don't Understand]() \[*Vice*\] ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()