Part of the reason I went into marketing is because I love creating. It’s also why the topic of the best AI for images intrigues me.
I love writing (surprise), cooking, design, and photography. I also used to paint and sew. But thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), you no longer have to be a lifelong creative to turn an idea into a visual reality.
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AI image generators help anyone create visuals that are weird, wonderful, and … weirdly wonderful. (Remember the Willy Wonka debacle in Glasgow?)
But how exactly do they work and what’s the best AI image generator for marketers? I tested the top options for you. Here’s the scoop.
Table of Contents
How do AI image generators work?
Plagiarism is a big concern with even the best AI image generators. And it makes sense considering the very nature of how they work. AI image generators create by reimagining things that already exist. They don’t copy. They borrow and recycle.
How It Works:
- The AI is “trained” on millions of existing images, descriptions, and captions available across the internet. This is how it “learns” what things look like and what they are called.
- When you enter a prompt into a tool, the AI reaches into its memory of those images and captions.
- The AI produces an image or selection of images it believes fit your prompt.
Think of it like a contemporary singer sampling a song from a bygone era. They’ve made it their own, but pieces of the original are still there and recognizable.
(Author’s note: Britney Spears’ Bollywood sample in “Toxic” will always be a work of art on its own, of course.)
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How I Tested the Best AI for Images
AI image generation can get pretty wild. You can create images in any style and of practically anything.
For instance, I made one of “a photorealistic orange rabbit wearing a traditional Indian sari and playing an acoustic guitar” using Google’s Gemini.
Then I asked for an electric guitar:
Why exactly? Well, as I’m sure many people justify their oddball AI creations: Because I could.
For the purpose of this article, I focused on a common marketing use case: creating an original image for a blog article.
I tested nine of the most popular AI image generators and evaluated them on their speed, ease of use, and image quality.
To fairly compare the options, I also eliminated variables by:
- Using the same prompt
- Requesting the same edit to the original prompt
I also ran each tool three times after each prompt, giving them a fair opportunity to deliver. Consider these my “trials.” This is science after all.
The prompt: “Generate an image of a young marketing executive presenting information on a television screen in front of a small group of teammates”
The edit: Generate a photo-realistic image of a young marketing executive presenting information on a television screen in front of a small group of teammates.
Let’s get started.
The Best AI Image Generators
1. Midjourney
Midjourney is considered one of the most powerful generative AI tools out there, so my expectations for its image generator were high. It focuses on creating artistic and stylized images and is popular for its high quality.
Pricing: $10-120 per month, depending on the plan.
Test Results:
I’m used to the chatbot setup of ChatGPT, so Midjourney wasn’t what I expected.
To create, you have to join the Midjourney Discord channel (similar to Slack). From there, you use keyboard commands within chats to have the Midjourney bot perform your desired tasks.
In this instance, I had to join a “newbie” chat (there were several to choose from) and enter the command “/imagine” followed by my prompt. Then, the Midjourney bot processed my request (and sometimes those of others simultaneously.)
It delivered four images with each trial.
From there, I could click numbered buttons underneath the images to get “upscales” (U) or variations (V) of a particular image. It isn’t entirely clear to a “newbie” what an upscale or variation means.
Personally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this process. Anyone in the chat can see your prompt and results and even download them for their own use. Your results could also quickly be buried by others, and you’d have to scroll up to find them.
Speaking of results, they were quick but varied in quality.
The AI delivered a variety of styles and included some diversity in its human subjects (no glaring issues with features), but it produced the same settings and poses in each option.
Also, there was no clear way to edit the images created. I tried responding to the bot to no avail.
My second prompt resulted in less photo-realistic images — even though I specified that’s what I wanted:
Overall, I have to say I was disappointed by Midjourney. Navigating was frustrating and didn’t produce the quality I expected from the hype.
Someone with more experience in Discord or prompting it might yield better results, but it didn’t win me over.
What I like:
- Fast (images in under 60 seconds)
- Multiple images at once
What can be improved:
- User-friendliness
- Privacy
- Editing capabilities
- Image style variety
- Photo-realistic quality
Best For: Artistic endeavors, marketers with advanced technical knowledge, web developers, or those comfortable within Discord who can learn to navigate the nuances of prompts.
