Contrary to popular belief, AI is no longer limited to technical or commercial sectors. Recently, an artist created an AI image and won a prize, clearly showcasing the prowess of AI. Hence, in 2023, we cannot ignore the importance of AI.
Art is the polar opposite of science and math. Hence, when we get to a stage where a computer program can not only draw but win an art contest, it’s high time we take AI infestation seriously. The common fear most people have that AI would take away labor jobs was never disputed. However, AI is capable enough of undertaking jobs that require creativity, which has alarmed a new set of people.
Funnily enough, there was next to no talk about AI and art at the start of 2022, but come 2023, we suddenly have a plethora of AI text-to-image generators available for use. That prompted us to write this article covering the best AI Image Generators out there.
Table of contents
What is AI Image generation?
Simply put, AI Image Generators are also software that employs AI, along with machine learning and NLPs, to generate digital art based on text input. How? By “understanding” what the task is. Although this sounds simple, it isn’t. Otherwise, it would not be such groundbreaking news.
How does an AI Image Generator work?
An AI Image Generator makes use of machine learning alongside Artificial Neural Networks. The ANN can receive text, understand it and create an image accordingly. All this happens in seconds as the final output is generated immediately. But ANN needs sufficient data and training before its deployment. Finally, there are different ANN models, such as:
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)
Initially, GAN was used in AI image generators to understand and create images. The program employs two ANN that faces each other to create an image. ANN 1 outlines the images, whereas ANN 2 determines its authenticity.
Diffusion models
Nowadays, though, AI Image Generators have adopted a different approach. They are using Diffusion models that utilize a database of hundreds of millions of images to train AI to recognize what each of them associates to.
Top AI Image Generators
There are literally hundreds of image generators on the internet. But most of them make use of the same tools or APIs hidden behind the scenes. These are the best AI image generators in existence.
1. DALL-E 2
DALL-E is the first AI Image Generator on our list, and not solely because of how it has made the whole genre popular overnight. Coming from a non-profit research firm, Open AI, DALL-E 2 has become the standard AI generators strive to achieve.
The program can create accurate and realistic images with nothing more than text. And all this is done using the diffusion model we discussed above. As for the pricing, DALL-E 2 is available in both formats free or paid subscription.
Its key features are the ability to produce multiple images per minute, accuracy, and the ability to further edit already generated images. Even if AI cannot replace humans, it definitely can replace artists.
2. Artbreeder
Artbreeder is a unique cross between an AI Image generator and an art editor. As such, the program is capable enough to change rudimentary images and shapes into beautiful pieces of art. Although Artbreeder works the same as any other AI Image Generator, it offers multiple styles in which a user can choose to have the final product change into a digital picture, comic-style art, or even anime art. It also works as an image quality enhancer.
Some options available are portraits, landscapes, anime, and other artistic approaches. The program also offers hundreds of illustrations, and the final result can be downloaded into common image formats such as JPG, JPEG, or PNG.
3. NightCafe
NightCafe has long since overcome the likes of DALL-E in terms of popularity. How? The platform offers one of the biggest repositories of algorithms that can aid other image generators also.
Similar to other AI programs, the images rendered by NightCafe are unique and based only on text prompts. However, it houses a credit-based system. It means that the AI is free to use as long as users have enough credits.
These credits can be earned by doing daily tasks or other challenges, or you can direly buy them. Some salient features are users own their art, it uses more algorithms than other competitors, is favorable to advanced users, and provides a bulk download feature to store all your creation with a single click.
4. Jasper
Jasper is yet another AI Image generator that allows artists to get as detailed as they want with their creations. It offers drop-down menus on the top of text-to-image API to support style dictation, medium, and even the mood of the picture. Furthermore, the company isn’t limited to images, as it employs AI for the whole content creation segment. It also unveiled an AI chatbot recently.
Coming back to image generation, The process is visibly fast, as it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to get a complete picture. The program has also taken care of keeping the images free from any watermarks for the user’s convenience.
5. Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion, as the name might suggest, is another AI Image Generator. It was created by Stability AI. The program offers both text-to-images and image-to-images functions and is a free-to-use service. It also offers to license for commercial and private use.
The AI is so powerful that even some other Image Generators on this very list use it to make their API. It is also a great example of how AI help businesses to be created.
6. Images.ai
Unite.ai presents its latest project, Images.ai, which is, you guessed it, a superb Image Generator with AI capabilities. It is a completely free-to-use service powered by the diffusion model to create exotic digital art. There are no hidden charges, as the service is free, and that too for as many images as you want.
Additionally, the program uses machine learning on top, which ensures better quality in the long run. It is also simple to use and very beginner friendly. The users need to visit the website, select an image size, enter their text prompt, and let the magic happen.
7. Deep AI
As it launched back in 2016, Deep AI is one of the oldest AI Image generators on this list. Although it is simple enough to use, by no means, it isn’t powerful. Like Images.ai, all the user has to do is enter the text prompt and decide on a style for rendering the image. Similarly, there is no limit on the number of images created. Hence, you can keep on rendering art as much as your heart wants. However, as a drawback, the pictures themselves are not as photorealistic as those rendered by other AI generators.
8. Starry AI
Starry AI is another image generator, but it is somewhat different as it doesn’t require a user prompt. It utilizes machine learning algorithms to render images. However, said images are NFTs, and thus the user has total ownership of his art. Sadly, the service is only available as an app on either Android or iOS.
9. Lensa
Lensa offers an AI image generator to modify and render pictures via image-to-image. However, it is available as an app-only service on both Android and iOS. Lensa is mostly preferred to modify selfies by using its image editing feature. It is a Prisma Labs offering and emphases mobile photography.
This concluded our list of the best AI Image generators.
FAQ
People are still not sure how copyright laws will impact the images generated with AI. Some say because AI models are trained using publicly available images that cannot be copyrighted, the resulting results cannot be copyrighted as well. On the other hand, some others state that the derived work is completely different from that of the original, hence, it can be copyrighted.
From our experience, DALL-E 2 is the best and most accurate AI image generator out there. Even with slightly inaccurate prompts, DALL-E generates images that don’t look distorted. Most other image generators we used require exactly accurate prompts to generate accurate results.