WaveFunctionCollapse
An image-and-tile generation approach inspired by quantum mechanics. Do watch it in action: it’s fascinating to watch and will give you a better idea of how the algorithm works. It starts with the average pixel values of the source image it is imitating, and on each step chooses an unobserved region with the lowest entropy and collapses it to a defined state.
It can also be used with tiles instead of pixels, or with three-dimensional voxel tiles. Additionally, it can be used with constraints, making it easier to combine it with other generative approaches.
All of which are excellent properties for generative algorithms to have. This is the exact kind of thing that I can see being used and reused in many different systems for many different effects.
The source code and way more detailed explanations can be found on the repository: https://github.com/mxgmn/WaveFunctionCollapse