Putting AI image generators to the test - Round 1!
Sometimes you need a funky image you could never create yourself and sometimes you just want to have a little fun. That’s where AI image generators come in. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are here to stay.
With so much buzz around AI, I wondered how some of these tools stack up against each other. How will they answer the same prompt and can they adapt to get a better result?
Moo Deng is the only light in my life at the moment so she is the inspiration for this test.
Prompt:
“Ethereal watercolor painting of a baby pigmy hippo”
Criteria and considerations
- To limit the scope, I only tested free image generators
- How much does it look like a water color painting that a human could make?
- Ethereal is kind of a throw away word but miss Moo Deng is ethereal so I’m curious to see how the word is interpreted, if at all
- I’m only testing this one prompt to some may be good a watercolor but terrible at 3D - who knows!
Adobe Firefly
Um, this hippo is kinda scary.
Right off the bat, this looks extremely AI created. The head and ear shape are giving pig but I guess the wrinkly-ness is close to a fresh just born pygmy hippo. Just cause there are watercolor splashes in the background doesn't make it look like a real painting.
One thing I like about Firefly is the amount of filters you can set for style, technique, and references. So let’s try again, this time with the watercolor filter applied and a style reference that’s more brush stroke-y.
These are much better! It's interesting that the hippo seems older and more serious now. I think the style reference really helped bring down the digital feel.
Gemini
Version 1:
Where is the watercolor??
This one looks sooo AI. And what’s up with the flat background?
Version 2:
After I asked it to “make it look more like a watercolor painting” … interesting. Okay, so Gemini is not a watercolor girly.
Leonardo AI
I hadn’t heard of this one before but I’m impressed. It updated my prompt to be more descriptive: Ai for Ai! Still looks a bit digital but it did a good job at breaking down “ethereal” into actionable words. I mean… look at her!
DALL-E (Chat GPT)
The misty look is very ethereal and I love that it added watercolor paper texture! But, the hair is giving baby yoda…
Since DALL-E is within Chat GPT you can ask for refinements of the last output instead of starting over.
Being so ubiquitous, I was curious to know if Chat GPT knew who Moo Deng was – it does not.
Canva
Graphic designers love to hate Canva but it did a really good job! It definitely has the most realistic watercolor look in addition to a variety of options. But if I’m gonna be a hater, these look the least baby.
brb more AI testing to come 🤸🏻♀️
Ai Tools Mentioned
