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My experience with Midjourney

1. August 2022

Lately you may have noticed an increasing buzz about AI-generated art. At least I did. Does that sound like science fiction to you? Well, no, progress is here and now. You think computer-generated art can’t be good? You could hardly be further from the truth. It’s the results of this tool that have convinced me to test it as well. Results are indeed fascinating and some of the artworks are really good. I decided to test it, what’s behind it, how does it work. If you want to try Midjourney, it’s just about time, because now the club on Discord is approaching 1 million and after that, no more beta testers will be allowed to access.

If you’ve got some deep fake videos stuck in your head, then it shouldn’t surprise you that today’s AI tools are so good that they can be used to create truly beautiful works. Still, it’s also a bit unnerving, and I felt like giving up my pencil and paintbrush after my first test. Still, if you see AI as a tool for inspiration, you’ll be thrilled. First of all, then, what is Midjourney – it’s actually a research lab that explores the uses of new media. It works simply, you join the Midjourney club on Discord, type /imagine and your keywords into the chat. The bot will generate 4 images based on them. You can have them create different variations or enlarge them. It’s that simple.

But how does it actually work? Here is a rather eloquent video where Pratik Naik describes the principles.

Basically, Midjourney is learning what the essence of each of many features is. So it’s not just about putting individual photos together, it’s basically finding out a lot more than considering 3 dimensions. What is an essence of a banana, is it the shape? Is it the color, texture? What if I want the banana blue? Then banana-ness has many factors. Whether it’s roundness, angularity, texture, color, etc. I’ve even asked AI to create art in the style of Alfonso Mucha, Gustav Klimt, H.Giger, a painting of lady in Dior dress in a sunset in a Stranger Things style, or a Dune or Blade Runner 2048 style visual. I also tried to look for the essence of specific people – my favorite Sigourney Weaver or what Constantine 2 should look like. Sometimes results were better, sometimes worse, so pretty much depends on the input you give to AI. Of course a bit of a problem with specific faces is a bit on the edge. So what is the essence of Sigourney Weaver? You can judge for yourself in some images below.

The quality of “your art”, which is neither yours nor actually art, but computer model, depends on the quality of the input, i.e. the keywords you enter. How do you like AI art? I am kind of fascinated by it. I must admit sometimes it gets scary accurate. The power is incredible. It certainly counts with hundreds of aspects that I would miss by myself as an artist. It will get better I am sure. Kind of reminds me of Surrogates movie with Bruce Willis for some reason. I am still unsure about how far this can get. It is such a power we hold in our hands. Or AI does… What are your thoughts? Will you check it by yourself?

Lucie Kout

 

I have very ambivalent feelings about it, it’s fascinating but at the same time a bit scary.

By luciekout on 2.8.2022 at 10:40

This looks like a truly appreciating newly found skill/knowledge. I recognize the depth of some of the examples. Well written piece, inviting to follow and learn for oneself. ♥

By Jitka on 1.8.2022 at 18:09

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