The photo I uploaded to Ratliffe's GPT.

Maria Diaz/

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, especially in its generative form. However, I'm partial to thinking people often take the technology too seriously. While there are fears that generative AI can take over some jobs, it can be an outstanding tool for work and fun, as photographer Trey Ratcliff proves.

Ratcliff created a custom GPT bot to critique photos that users upload, complete with his personality and humor. Ratcliff trained the bot on over 5,000 of his blog entries from the past 15 years, his books on photography, and his sense of humor. 

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OpenAI lets ChatGPT Plus users create their custom chatbots powered by ChatGPT, a new feature announced during the company's first DevDay developers conference last week. Since then, ChatGPT users have been ideating different custom GPT bots to perform various actions.

Of course, I tested it out, and the results were both astonishing and hilarious.

Screenshot by Maria Diaz/

I uploaded a photo of a recent robot vacuum review I wrote. It was a photo I wasn't happy with and I was expecting an AI chatbot to tell me, "It's too dark, too beige, needs more vibrancy and contrast," with a little joke at the end. 

Instead, it gave a sarcastic, intricate, and ornate description of an average photo. It was amazing how descriptive it was, truly. The GPT delved into describing the image, down to the details of the robot vacuum that was charging in its base station and the houseplant in a pot to its right, calling it "a juxtaposition of the automated and the organic."

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The GPT described the color palette as "muted, perhaps even dreary, with beige walls and carpet, hinting at the monotony of household chores that our robotic friend tirelessly relieves us from."

The GPT also said, "Now, for the imaginative bit: One could whimsically argue that the robot, with its cyclopean eye, might well be contemplating the existential quandaries of its serviceable existence. Or perhaps it's simply 'seeing' its next target -- a stray popcorn kernel under the sofa, an affront to its programmed sense of cleanliness."

The robot vacuum, which is theSwitchBot K10+ mini robot vacuum , has a visible cord behind the base station, which Ratcliff's GPT describes as "a stray loop, a moment of inattention, and our hero could be ensnared in a Gordian knot of its own making."

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It ended its critique with a question, "So, tell me, dear uploader, what were the robot's greatest triumphs and tribulations in its quest to conquer the domestic dust bunnies?"

Ratcliff has been leveraging the power of generative AI for over a year now, through a dedicated Instagram account called @trairatcliff. To access Ratcliff's Critique GPT, you have to have a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

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