It’s easy to tell the difference between art created by humans and art generated by computers. No one could fail to distinguish the small nuances and imperfections of a human-created painting against a technically perfect, but somehow stilted and cold, computer piece of art. However, a new algorithm developed by Kenichi Yoneda, better known as Kynd, creates curiously human-looking paintings with an automated painter.

Using the program, called openFrameworks, the artist is able to simulate realistic painting methods, using a brush or a palate knife, blending pigments drying at different rates. It’s a intriguing process to watch digital paint drying, much more so than watching actual paint dry.

The objective, rather than making a beautiful work of art, is to explore how closely computers can come to re-creating the way humans paint, and perhaps investigate the gray area between man-made and computer-generated.

What sparked our fire: The precision in which a computer can mimic the human act of painting.

Will this new algorithm make art enthusiasts skeptical about authenticity?