Review - A jigsaw puzzle from Stay Weird Puzzle Company using AI generated artwork

I received this puzzle in exchange for a review

I was recently contacted by Stay Weird Puzzle Company and asked if I would like to review one of their jigsaw puzzles. They are a new puzzle company, founded by a couple who use AI generative art to bring their ideas to life. It's aimed at people looking for jigsaw puzzles that are perhaps a little bit strange and a little bit different.

Using AI in jigsaw puzzles is a very controversial topic among puzzlers, especially now some of the most well known puzzle brands covertly use AI in their puzzle designs. Stay Weird Puzzle Company are completely upfront about it, so there is no ambiguity. 

I'm personally not quite sure how I feel about it, but I am very interested in the idea of using AI for artistic purposes and thinking about how this might affect creative pursuits in the future. I definitely feel that there is creativity involved in producing the images. Firstly coming up with an initial idea, then refining the prompts to make it fit what you are after. AI is a great way to bring random ideas to life without any artistic skills.

After spending some time browsing I chose to try Canal at Dusk, Dutch Dreams, which is one of many puzzles in the collection that feature a stained glass effect. The puzzles are available in a range of different piece counts, and I went with 1014 pieces as this is the size of puzzle that I usually work on. I must admit that I did play it safe - it's definitely not as weird as some of the other puzzles on the site! 

The jigsaw artwork depicts twilight descending on an Amsterdam-like canal, featuring tall canal side houses warmly lit from inside, traditional boats, and is framed by trees and tulips. It has a really peaceful feel, and I liked it because it reminds me of my travels.

The puzzle is supplied in a light box with a picture of the design on the front. The picture wasn't huge, but I found that it worked well enough for completing the puzzle. 

I enjoyed working on this puzzle very much. The sturdy pieces fitted together really well, and I liked the stained glass aspect of the design. It was a challenging puzzle because the different lines that add interest to the picture could be quite tricky to work with at the level of individual pieces, and there were some quite dark or textured areas where I needed to shape sort the pieces.

Using AI to generate an image for a jigsaw puzzle does require some care. When you piece together a jigsaw you become very familiar with the image in extreme close up, so there can't be anything that doesn't look quite right, even down to the very small details. As well as needing to stand up to scrutiny, there also needs to be some thought given to make sure that the puzzle is challenging enough to hold interest without being impossible to complete. 

Large areas of one colour, or areas with similar textures, can be difficult to put together, and this is where the piece cut of a jigsaw is really important. I was very pleased to find that the grid piece cut for this puzzle had a range of different piece shapes which really helped on some of the more complicated areas. 

Is it possible to tell that the image is AI generated? 

Yes I think it is, especially if you are familiar with AI images. The reflections in the water aren't right, the texture of the foliage isn't quite what you would expect, and there is a shadowed area in the middle that is a bit too dark. But I think it's possible to overlook this, because it's not intended to be a photorealistic depiction. The art style reminds me very much of urban sketching, and I really like the way it becomes an interpretation of the scene rather than an accurate copy.

I found it interesting to speak with the founder of the company about his process for creating these images. The couple use their life experiences as a basis for their art - for example, Santa in July comes from pondering what Santa might be up to out of the Christmas season, and being stuck in gridlocked traffic led to My GPS Said 10 Minutes, Three Hours Ago. Most of the pictures have a story associated with them, and creating them has allowed them to unleash a creative side that they didn't know they had. 

In terms of the actual process, they start with a broad prompt, then use language descriptors to help narrow down the vision. There's no final image in mind from the beginning, instead they wait and see where they end up.

Stay Weird Puzzle Company designs

I had a lot of enjoyment putting this puzzle together, and I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through all the unusual and varied puzzle designs that Stay Weird Puzzle Company have produced. Although many of them are quite different from the sort of puzzle that I usually work on, I do think that if you hunt around there is something to suit most types of puzzler. 

I've enjoyed thinking about how I feel about using AI in jigsaw puzzles and it has led to some interesting discussions with others. One thing that I do feel certain of is that it's vital for companies to declare the use of AI art in puzzles, even if it's only used for part of the puzzle.

So thank you to Stay Weird Puzzles for both the opportunity to review the puzzle and also the chance to start a debate on how AI could be used for creative purposes.

What do you think of these puzzles? Would you work on a puzzle using completely artwork completely generated by AI?