Midjourney, one of the best known AI text-to-image generators, is now accessible to anyone.
Previously only available to subscribers through the Discord chat app, the service now has a dedicated website and is offering a free trial to the public.
As part of the expansion, Midjourney is allowing users to create up to 25 images at no cost. Offering a taster of its service should allow the company to keep a lid on overheads in an AI industry that is notoriously energy-intensive.
How does Midjourney work?
Like other AI image editors, Midjourney’s creators trained the system to understand user commands by feeding it millions of images and corresponding textual descriptions. By processing everything, from pics of animals to Monets, the neural network (an algorithm that functions like a big brain) can learn what things are.
Of course, it then has to produce what you want. It does this by using something called a diffusion model to sift through the random noise in its machine head and gradually refine it into a coherent image. Ultimately, what you’re left with is an AI that can mix and match its learnings to create unique visuals.
However, Midjourney does have some big caveats. The main issue for many people will be the fact that all the images created on the service are public, and subsequently shared on Discord.
There are also strict rules preventing users from creating certain types of content. You can’t generate imagery that is harmful, offensive, or disturbing, including gore and adult content, while certain topics are also off-limits, like drugs and slurs.
The platform has filters to automatically block prohibited content and reserves the right to suspend or ban accounts that violate these rules.
What viral images were made using Midjourney?
If you’ve ventured on to social media in the past couple of years, you may have already seen an image created using Midjourney.
Remember that Pope in a puffer jacket pic that went viral in March 2023? That was made with Midjourney.
Not everyone has used it for a laugh, however. A number of images generated with Midjourney have a sinister and deceptive edge to them, like the fake pics showing Donald Trump being arrested or an attack on the Pentagon.
And, you can expect to see more now that the US election cycle has kicked off, with politicians increasingly leveraging cheap and easy-to-use AI image and video generators to smear their opponents and dupe voters.
More broadly, Midjourney has gained traction due to its ability to produce high-quality and somewhat realistic images (and it's even getting better at producing human hands and fingers). The almost-lifelike results, along with the more quirky outputs, have made it a hit with digital artists and creators.
How to use Midjourney?
Now that it’s available on the web, jumping into Midjourney is easier than ever. The new website is pretty basic, though the underlying technology is anything but.
Once you’ve signed up or logged in with either a Google or Discord account, and agreed to the terms, you can start typing text descriptions into the bar at the top, where you can also customise things like the aspect ratio, realism, and “weirdness”.
Then, just hit enter and wait for your image. To view the results, click the “create” option in the sidebar.
Here’s one I made earlier of an anime Kratos and Master Chief hanging out. It probably won’t end the PlayStation vs Xbox console wars, but a tech reporter can dream.
How much does it cost
Outside of its free preview, Midjourney offers four monthly or annual subscription plans, each with caps on things like the amount of images you can generate or the processing time for said pics. Prices range from $8-$96 per month (£6-£73).
What other AI image generators are there?
Midjourney’s main rivals include Dall-E (from OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT) and Stable Diffusion. Meanwhile, existing photo-editing and stock photo services like Adobe and Getty have started integrating generative AI into their offerings, too.
