How Good Are AI-Generated Images?
AI Image Generators have been out for a year or so. From humble beginnings, online AI Image Generators are now starting to generate seriously magical images. So, I ran tests on a specific topic to see how good the quality was.
I looked at the capabilities of some AI image-generation programs: ImageFX, DALLE 3, and Adobe Firefly. The first two are the ones we predominantly use. The big test in this example was going to be accuracy.
The best generated image yet, I am still learning...
The AI image generators generated this image. Ideogram and it looks like a cinematic movie still. It’s so realistic. It almost has a “Gladiator” feel about it.
WHAT WE LEARNED:
The key takeaway from our test is that using AI image generators is no longer the domain of creatives. Today, you don’t need to be an artist; if you can accurately describe your image using the program’s prompting language, you can create anything.
Chosen Topic: Roman Centurions
Why Romans, you ask? I thought this would be a good test to see how AI image generators handle the historical details of the Roman Centurion. By focusing on this iconic figure, I would see just how they would fare.
ImageFX
First off, we used Google’s ImageFX; the results are below. Overall, the images look natural, if a little dull; the uniforms are close and, in some cases, pretty accurate.
OpenAI DALLE 3
DALLE 3 is an AI image generation tool created by OpenAI. I accessed it through CHATGPT 4o, a paid version. The results were impressive; I feel the best overall at the time of generation. The images are dramatic and accurate, with great colour. For some reason, the images came out at 9:16; we never asked for this.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe Firefly is a generative AI tool developed by Adobe. Since I use their products for all our creative software, trying their AI image creator made sense. The images were generally okay; the armour looked correct, but the prompting was difficult, and the images below were not what I wanted. This was more a case of me not understanding the prompting Firefly needs.
The real challenge of generated AI images is the creation of the prompt.
The challenging part was prompting. Each AI image generator interprets phrases uniquely, so what worked on one didn’t yield the same result on another. This was frustrating but expected, as each programme is pitching for your business.
Here’s an example of the prompt we used, ImageFX; I used a similar prompt for the others.
AI generated video, from the image
I didn’t spend a lot of time on video for this test—that will be another article. But I did do a quick 5-second image-to-video on runway ML, which looks pretty cool.
So we took the above image of the Roman Centurion and used the Haiper – AI Video Generator program to get this 4-second video. It looks great; you can see how good these will get in a few more years. I did notice it changed his face.
So what did I think?
I was impressed with all three programs; the images are far beyond those generated a year ago. The future of this technology is exciting, and soon, you won’t be able to differentiate between authentic images and AI-generated ones. Some Instagram accounts consist solely of AI images and have huge followings, so it’s already here.
I must admit that the differences in image quality are not due to the programs’ deficiencies but our skill with prompting; the more I practice, the better I will get.
Strength and Honor – Virtūs et Honos
