ChatGPT 4o and the Rise of AI Imagery: From Cowboy Caricatures to Convincing Counterfeits
The newly released ChatGPT 4o (Omni) image generation capabilities are here—and they’re wildly impressive.
To demonstrate just how far things have come, I ran a fun little experiment. Starting with a famous photo of Old West icon Texas Jack Omohundro, I asked ChatGPT 4o to reinterpret the image in several different artistic styles. The results ranged from comic book hero to Disney character, Art Nouveau elegance to oil painting realism, with a stop by The Simpsons along the way.
It’s entertaining, sure. The digital dress-up of a historical figure is fun, creative, and even illuminating. But this new power also raises a very real concern—one we've talked about here before.
The Line Between Art and Artifact
If you've followed my writing, you might remember our earlier discussion about the dangers of AI-generated images being passed off as authentic historical documents. We talked about an obviously AI-generated image that claimed to be of Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok. I warned that it wouldn’t be long before the next iteration of AI art would be good enough to fool even a trained eye. And well—here we are.
Previously, it was relatively easy to spot the fakes. Maybe the eyes were a little off, the hands had too many fingers, or the text on a fake poster looked more like gibberish than graphic design. But with ChatGPT 4o and similar tools, the “tells” are vanishing.
Take a look at the new AI-generated image of The Scouts of the Prairie poster. The typography is clean. The proportions are correct. The men look historically accurate. If you didn’t know better, you might think you’d just stumbled upon a rare piece of 19th-century ephemera.
The Stakes Are Higher Than You Think
This isn’t just an academic issue or a quirky internet trend. Historical images are big business. A verified tintype of Billy the Kid sold for over a million dollars. Lesser-known but convincingly attributed photos of Wild West legends have sold for hundreds of thousands. And countless other “discoveries” pop up in junk stores, antique malls, estate sales, and auctions every year.
Imagine the temptation. An AI-generated image of a man who looks an awful lot like Billy the Kid, convincingly aged and printed onto a plate using 19th-century methods, could easily pass muster at a glance. Even experts could be fooled—especially if they want to be.
Be Skeptical. Be Smart.
So yes, play around with AI image generation. It’s a fantastic tool for art, education, and even reimagining history. But remember: not everything you see—especially online—is what it claims to be.
If you're looking at a “newly discovered” historical photograph, ask questions. What’s the provenance? Where did it come from? Who owned it? Is there documentation? Just because something looks old doesn’t mean it is.
And just because you see it doesn't mean it's true.
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