Could AI lead to a revival of decorative beauty?

In front of me is what appears to be an authentic Delft tile. The surface of the tile is mottled, and painted on to it is a picture of a man. The blue tones blur and fade into the edges. Delicate brush strokes are visible if you peer closely. It looks as though it were made many years ago. Except it wasn’t. It was designed this morning by artificial intelligence and created in a small factory near Stoke-on-Trent, using some of the most advanced printing technology available.

‘Josiah Wedgwood would have loved what we are doing… I suspect William Morris would have hated it,’ says Adam Davies, the co-founder of the company creating these tiles. Davies, who is currently reading Radical Potter, Tristram Hunt’s biography of Wedgwood, draws inspiration from the renowned ceramicist’s innovative spirit.

In May, Davies and his business partner Jack Marsh, both in their mid-twenties, launched Not Quite Past.