Part 3 of -punk worlds
-punk worlds (Part 2 futuristic worlds)
@CaylaCatz
-punk worlds (Part 2)
Other posts in this series:
-punk worlds (Part 1.5 An Experiment)
-punk worlds (Part 2 futuristic worlds)
-punk worlds (Part 3.5 mythpunk)
In -punk worlds (Part 1), I explored the -punk worlds from Sandalpunk (Iron Age/Bronze Age) though to Steampunk and on to Atomicpunk (1945-1969). Using a single word, you can prompt the AI to provide clothes, decor and cityscapes to fit your world. For Part 2, I'd like to continue with the future starting with the one that started everything: Cyberpunk.
As I wrote previously in 1980, Bruce Bethke titled a short story "Cyberpunk", published in Amazing stories in 1983. Thus a new word was born. Cyberpunk gave birth to Steampunk and a lot of other -punk words. And the cool thing is that most of the time many AI models understand those -punk worlds.
So now we will explore the futuristic -punk worlds. There is no timeline here as they all occur sometime in the future.
Table of Contents:
(all images shown only in Grok unless otherwise noted here)
cyberpunk
cybernoir
(includes discussion on tech noir, future noir, neo noir but no image on these)
biopunk (Grok, Nano Banana, SeeDream 4.0, GPT 1.5 Low)
lunarpunk (Grok, SeeDream 4.0)
raypunk (Grok, SeeDream 4.0)
Madeup -punk words just for fun
marspunk (Grok, NanoBanana)
moonpunk (Grok, NanoBanana)
venuspunk (Grok, NanoBanana)
jupiterpunk (Grok, NanoBanana)
saturnpunk (Grok, NanoBanana)
I'll use a simple prompt and swap out the -punk words to show how the AI fills in the world. We'll use Grok for our model at first.
Simple Prompt (fill in the blank with the -punk)
-- - - woman looking out the window into a ---- world
Notice that I did not describe what the woman is wearing, her hairstyle, her room or the world outside the window. All of that will be conveyed with the one -punk word. Unlike the previous blog on retro-futuristic -punk worlds, I am also using the same -punk word as an adjective for the woman. Mainly because worlds, there are physical changes to the people sometimes and I'd like to show that
cyberpunk
cyberpunk woman looking out the window into a cyberpunk world
cyber noir
Cyber noir is a subset of cyberpunk. In literature or film, it is a noir story set in a cyberpunk world. I am testing it to see if how the AI recognizes it and implements it in an image.
cyber noir woman looking out the window into a cyber noir world
I don't see much difference between cyber noir and cyberpunk. I ran it 3x. Mostly what I see is a difference in the noir lighting: long shadows to make things look more mysterious and cinematic. Interestingly enough, she is not femme fatale but more like the noir detective in all three shots with the leather trenchcoat.
Tech noir and future noir are other words that indicate this mix of the film noir look with futuristic settings. No matter which phrase is used, the world is dystopian, technology is a conflicted focus as it's viewed as a destructive force for people's humanity even as people use it. In terms of prompting, I tried both but didn't see much of a difference from cyber noir. I also tried neo-noir as it's sometimes mentioned in this regard. The AI image came back noir but set in the 1970s to now, not the future.
biopunk
Grok: biopunk woman looking out the window into a biopunk world
Grok: biopunk woman looking out the window into a biopunk world
Biopunk comes back significantly different. Synthetic biology and biotechnology underscores this -punk world. Genetic manipulation is used in a dystopian world by governments and corporations for profit and/or to control people. How that futuristic biotechnology may look can vary significantly. Nature exists but nature has been subverted.
NanoBanana : biopunk woman looking out the window into a biopunk world
I decided to show grok for this survey of different futuristic -punk worlds because I found grok doesn't tend to push a it's own art style as much. But the different -punk worlds can be depicted very differently depending on the model you choose. In many ways, the cyberpunk look has been well-defined by films, graphic novels and sci-fi art. However some -punk worlds are not similarly well-defined so it give sthe AI more latitude.
SeeDream 4.0 : biopunk woman looking out the window into a biopunk world
Above the first two Grok images showed a wide difference in biopunk imagery. I think Biopunk might be a good one to show you how different the models might show a -punk futuristic world. Plus I'm curious so we are taking a visual tour. So I did Biopunk in Nano Banana, SeeDream 4.0 and GPT 1.5 Low. My prompt is simple with no art style so you can also see the art style the AI decided to do.
GPT 1.5 Low : biopunk woman looking out the window into a biopunk world
nanopunk
nanopunk woman looking out the window into a nanopunk world
This is a world where nanites and bio-nanotechnologies are the technologies driving the world. Nanites are small so it's difficult to illustrate them. In this case, it's shown by the lines of light and the mechanical arms. Unlike the early mentioned -punk futuristic worlds, anopunk worlds doesn't have to be dystopian as it depends on how the technology is deployed.
solarpunk
solarpunk woman looking out the window into a solarpunk world
Solarpunk is an optimistic view of the future instead of dystopian. The environmental problems we face now has been addressed in the future. This future often looks green with nature abounding and renewable energy sources.
lunarpunk
grok: lunarpunk woman looking out the window into a lunarpunk world
Wikipedia defines lunarpunk as "a subgenre of solarpunk with a darker aesthetic. It leans toward fantasy and its themes include night settings – often featuring bioluminescence and purple colors, spirituality or the occult, green cities, sustainable technologies, and a more introspective side of solarpunk utopias."
That's exactly what we see here.
Seedream4.0: lunarpunk woman looking out the window into a lunarpunk world
However, I have had it happen that when I used lunarpunk in a longer prompt, AI gave me cyberpunk on the moon just as it did here when I ran it through SeeDream 4.0.
Raypunk
grok: raypunk woman looking out the window into a raypunk world
Raypunk's definition is so general, it'll be hard to get a specific picture. This is Wikipedia's definition "Raypunk ... deals with scenarios, technologies, beings or environments, very different from everything that is known or what is possible here on Earth or by science. It covers space surrealism, parallel worlds, alien art, technological psychedelia, non-standard 'science', alternative or distorted/twisted reality, and so on." Because raypunk is so widely defined and seems to be about all kinds of science-fiction, your results are likely to be random sci-fi results
nano banana: raypunk woman looking out the window into a raypunk world
Madeup -punk words
As far as I know, these next few I am making up on the fly just to see what the AI will do. I am curious because some lunarpunk images are on the moon so I want to see if that will happen with other planets. Because there are no definitions for them, I will just show a couple images to go with each. One Grok and one a different model.
marspunk
grok: marspunk woman looking out the window into a marspunk world
nano banana: marspunk woman looking out the window into a marspunk world
moonpunk
grok: moonpunk woman looking out the window into a moonpunk world
nanobanana: moonpunk woman looking out the window into a moonpunk world
note: looks like she's living on Saturn's moon, not Earth's
venuspunk
grok: venuspunk woman looking out the window into a venuspunk world
Note: I don't know where she is but it looks like a space age steampunk world
nano banana: venuspunk woman looking out the window into a venuspunk world
Note: I don't know where she isbut I'm not sure it's Venus
jupiterpunk
grok: jupiterpunk woman looking out the window into a jupiterpunk world
note: looks like she's living on Jupiter's moon as she has a world-class view of Jupiter
nano banana: jupiterpunk woman looking out the window into a jupiterpunk world
saturnpunk
grok: saturnpunk woman looking out the window into a saturnpunk world
note: looks like she's living on Saturn's moon but it looks like it's a steampunk civilization
nano banana: saturnpunk woman looking out the window into a saturnpunk world
note: looks like she's living on Saturn's moon
Conclusion
Cyberpunk is pretty well defined film and other media and has a look that the AI can emulate. It can give your character and city a look that when others see it they will think cyberpunk.
Biopunk, Nanopunk, Solarpunk and Lunarpunk are not as well defined so they may vary some but they are centered around themes that the AI tries to incorporate whether it's bioengineered people, nanite technology or green technologies. You will have to define these -punk worlds more if you have a look in mind.
grok: siriuspunk woman looking out the window into a siriuspunk world
You can create your own -punk futuristic world like I did with Marspunk Moonpunk and Jupiterpunk. It looks like when you do that the AI will try to make a scientific look that makes sense with that planet you used as a prefix. Try it! You might like it.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of futuristic -punk worlds. Let me know if this inspires you to try one out or make your own. As for me? I'm off to explore some new -punk worlds!
Grok: CaptainNemopunk woman looking out the window into a CaptainNemopunk world
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Comments (14)
Great settings/-punk worlds. I have to read another time...
I think it would be great as a QT. The more I dive into it, the more I found a lot of -punk terms already coined and people seem to add it as necessary to describe a new genre niche. I want to do a couple more posts first. One focused on the magic ones. Another one might be cultural although that one might be short. A lot of the known ones are linked to books or movies. I don't know if I should reference them or just leave it as a visual blogs. I've become fascinated by them. Some are not about the rebel; but rather focused on the idea of the evolution of one technology based on xyz and its effect on society. Not all of them are dystopian. Like Solarpunk is not dystopian but hopeful that we will solve our climate troubles and focus on renewable energy sources. I really like that one. I'll do a QT based on my first post as soon as the yokai QT dies down a little. If I do a QT, I like to comment folks that do that same one.
Yeah, I like my ideas and I think I come up with cool things but it's not really the most creative that earns the money off things. It's the person who is good at marketing who knows how to market what the creatives put out there. Unfortunately they are two different skillsets and I'm a lousy marketer. But if I was a good marketer, I probably wouldn't come up with these off-the-wall ideas and experiment. I really think it's two different parts of the brain like a left brain/right brain sort of thing. I like being the experimenter.
Cayla, the amount of thought, creativity and work you have put into these blogs is AWESOME!!!!! Perhaps people higher up (meaning in publishing & entertainment buiseness) should take a look at it! Seriously! (Not that I'd know how it would be done. ...and now that I think of it, most propably they would just steal shamelesly everything, so f@#lk them)
Fun and interesting. Tip my hat to the time you have spent creating and writing this up. Perhaps it would make an interesting QT? Create your own imaginary -punk world and scene?
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