That left-brained set of rigid algorithms is about to meet its right-brained counterpart. The key is that this new sort of software isn't replicating a set of rules to distort an image per human design. Rather, it is using sophisticated math to process visual information, extract unique patterns, and recursively learn what makes any particular artistic style unique. Then it can take off from there. Think of it as statistical intuition, not unlike our own instincts and gut impulses.

Hallucinatory image created with Dreamscope app by the author. Google engineers discovered this technique by reversing image recognition neural networks trained on dogs. Something went very wrong with one of Google's neural networks. It was designed for a simple task: identify dogs in photos. But a curious developer reversed the algorithm and it began to hallucinate dogs where there were none before.