“Raising” The Titanic With AI

The Titanic. One of the greatest pieces of iron(y) ever brought to life; the unsinkable ship that sinks on her maiden voyage. Over 100 years after the disaster, we’re all still fascinated by the behemoth lying at the bottom of the ocean. And that includes our AI R&D team here at NeoPangea. Our challenge was to enhance the essence of these cherished archival photos to “bring them to life” for an immersive experience. But, that means walking a tightrope. Too much manipulation and we risk misrepresenting a moment in time; too little, and audiences may not realize anything has been done, or simply find the end product about as engaging as watching an iceberg form. And then there were the ethical conundrums: the negative reactions to AI use; museums using altered visuals to represent history; and of course, do we risk giving audiences an altered perception of history?

Well, as pioneers we felt we had to try and got to work. We sourced public domain images of the Titanic, and tapped Topaz Labs to upscale both images and videos. To bring the historical photos to life, we turned to Runway, subtly animating them to add remarkable depth and movement. For the voice-over, we utilized Eleven Labs, an AI voice synthesis engine, to generate an era-appropriate narration. But after we viewed the finished results, posted here, we couldn’t help but think of that great quote by Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” We created new footage from static photos. Was that respectful? Did we do the Titanic justice? As we all continue to push the boundaries of AI, how far is too far? Do we risk corrupting history, or are we celebrating it? We’ll let you decide.