The Faces of NovelAI’s AI Models: Part 2
As previously threatened, here is part two of The Faces of NovelAI’s AI Models! In this iteration, we’ll be covering the newest additions to our NovelAI AI model family!
In the last post, we mentioned that we initially didn’t really plan on giving the models faces — this was until our designer TabloidA decided a picture might be a nice way to identify the AI models better- this was one of the changes we brainstormed in September in preparation for the UI overhaul back in the NovelAI’s Six Month Anniversary Update. At that point in time, we only had two AI models. This was soon to change…
At the beginning of November, the team completed their work on two experimental AI models. We had completed our ritualistic fight over their names — deciding not to stick to mythical/legendary names since they were offshoot models. Then we realized we wouldn’t have any images for the dropdown selection in the UI. The chosen names were Genji and Snek.
At that point in time, we had about three to four days until the planned release date. We attempted to reach out to TarmIllustrates in hopes of commissioning a stoic elder Japanese warrior for Genji. Still, we were unable to get ahold of him — that’s when our community member turned community manager, Aini, managed to come to the rescue!
Genji
For Genji, our Japanese GPT 6B model, all Aini had to go off was that the model outputs Japanese text and that the next model in the order would be male.” A stoic elder Japanese warrior” was what we would have commissioned… but Ikémen Sengoku is what we got from Aini. The compromise was that she would give him more of a beard if/when his model improved, but we’ll see about that.
Why does Genji have a scar? Chris demanded a scar; that’s the reason.
His outfit was inspired by samurai gear with a hint of shounen anime. Much time was spent looking at old samurai illustrations as well as Instagram for armor and pose references such as busyoutaikagekatsu.
If Aini ever finishes Genji’s full-body illustration, you’ll see more of the shounen anime inspiration and the ridiculous Seint Seya-inspired armor — especially his boots since Aini really didn’t like the thought of drawing Samurai pants and shoes that show socked toes.
She used the usual NovelAI subscription tier icons for the armor details as decoration. As you can see, his shoulder plates are connected through them, and they adorn the pattern of his bandana. The NovelAI logo pen nib is visible on his chest plate.
Aini also imitated the starker shading that Klein used for Sigurd in his armor and the clothing parts that would be fabric beneath it, such as the collar and sleeves. The white hair was chosen because of Sigurd’s white mane, he is also a 6B model, and Aini wanted them to have that connection.
TabloidA created gorgeous text art to go alongside Genji V2’s release so it would match previous Euterpe and later Krake styling. The red color of the font is also what we use to tag Genji posts on the subreddit.
Snek
Snek, our GPT-J 6B model, is finetuned on the Python programming language and can generate Python code. While there were countless debates about her name, a close fight between heroes, legends, and myths such as Medusa- ultimately Snek won out — so despite the tragic name loss, Aini decided to at least give her a Medusa inspired look.
The combination of a muted color palette inspired by the Sigurd and Calliope illustrations with the Python coding language logo colors quickly gave our newest addition to the AI Model family her own unique face:
Aini plans to rework her illustration sometime since the scales of her tail are a major point of contention for her.
She’s meant to look a little younger due to the new grounds this AI model lets you explore. Personality-wise she would be a young programmer or hacker, maybe along the lines of Futaba Sakura from Persona 5. The snakes give plenty of opportunities for cute situations to draw her in. They are supposed to do all the work but do they enjoy that? So many things to draw but so little time! She’s also meant to be highly fashionable; Aini loaded her up with a lot of jewelry for that reason (just look at all the rings); the jewelry also gave plenty of chances to work in the NovelAI subscription icons, which is very fun to design and draw.
Euterpe
The fairseq 13b model was a surprise to everyone on the team while we patiently waited for Eleuther’s NeoX 20b model to finish training.
The name Euterpe won out due to the smaller model size and because we could establish a relation to Calliope. Using the muse of lyric poetry as the main inspiration was also a fun endeavor for Aini. Basing her art on this muse helped Aini establish her visual style.
Using TarmIllustrates’ Calliope design and art as a basis helped Aini establish a look for Euterpe. Her hair braids were inspired by Calliope and the soft natural color scheme and a good amount of freckles. For Euterpe’s bangs and overall hairstyle, Aini also chose to lean on Steins Gate’s Makise Kurisu, which Kurumuz likes to use for his profile pictures.
During Euterpe’s design process, Aini’s more eccentric style certainly came through more than with the previous two art pieces of Genji and Snek. It’s hard to stick to someone else’s style, considering both Sigurd and Calliope were drawn in two completely different styles by two different artists. Aini took the opportunity to merge them and bring in the whimsical details she likes to draw, such as the flowing ribbons, flowers, and the stola wrapped around her arm.
Aini provided Euterpe with the usual NovelAI Pen nib logo treatment, Nibs are found on her ear, her collar, and her shoes. On her arm is a small Octopus bracelet, which she added in preparation for a certain later model… After Genji and Snek had so many subscription tier icons in their garments, Aini shrunk away from them, and they mainly made up the contraptions that would hold up the tunic and the stola that wraps around her waist.
Since Euterpe was quite fun to draw and quickly became our most significant and most capable AI Model. Aini drew a handful of additional smaller pieces to create Discord stickers and practice animating in After Effects.
Once Valentines Day rolled around, we released a new AI Module but to spice up the announcement visuals, we coupled it with another Euterpe illustration.
There is also an animated Euterpe NovelAI Theme, which enables Euterpe to blink at you while she watches you write!
We’ll see what the future holds for more Euterpe art; there is a waifu pillow that’s currently unfinished.
Then another art piece was created to usher in a new era…
Krake
We knew the next model in line would be a male, and the team had promised a “tentacle” related name many moons ago. We ended up on the legendary myth of the Kraken as inspiration.
We did, however, decide to alter the name a little to give it some additional flair. This was done so it would be easy to pronounce his name since Euterpe and even Calliope seemed to give people a tough time. Ultimately Krake won out; think of the name Drake but with a K — very cool and easy to pronounce.
In the beginning, the Krake AI Model didn’t quite outperform Euterpe in performance, so a handful of design elements are meant to signify them being close friends. Aini gave them matching earrings and hair braids in the same position. We deliberately chose all our official wording to signal that Krake is more of a sidegrade that needs a little more work than Euterpe, so the art is meant to reiterate this.
Canonically she’d like to imagine Euterpe braiding his hair for him before he uses his headwrap to hide a good amount of black tresses. That’s something that needs to be sketched out in the future!
The aforementioned octopus bracelet on Euterpe’s also came in quite handy for Krake’s introduction teaser art. The idea was an epic image, symbolizing exploring new depths of storytelling.
Now for Krake’s outfit, Aini used the Norwegian etymology of the Krake to help her nail down some traditional Norwegian garments to merge with old pirate/sailor aspects. The leather vest below his jacket is also in the shape of the NAI pen nib logo. If Aini ever gets around to animating him, she would insist that the octopus tattoos on his chest and arms are in constant motion. If we ever animate this lad, we will have to show that effect off for sure!
This covers the second half of the Faces of NovelAI’s AI Models!
Do you have any guesses or wishes for future additions to this merry band? Let us know what you imagine for the future NovelAI AI Model faces!
