No, Waterlogue doesn’t use AI to paint or render watercolor images.
There’s a lot of buzz around AI-based image generators such as Dalle, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney. These image generators can produce amazing images, from photo-realistic to artistic renderings. However, it appears that many of these image generators are trained on images owned by artists and photographers, and there is a lot of concern about legal and ethical issues around this practice.
Waterlogue uses traditional, non-AI algorithms to process photos and create watercolor effects. This patented method was designed by Tinrocket’s founder, an artist-developer. No particular artist’s styles were copied to create Waterlogue’s unique look—it’s derived from widely-known general and historical watercolor practices.
Waterlogue does use AI in other parts of the software: Algorithms that identify faces and areas of interest within your photos, but only to guide the non-AI painting algorithms. They are the same algorithms Apple uses and makes available to developers in its own Photos software on iOS and macOS.