Prior to 2022, it was always considered that the progress made in artificial intelligence would not affect creative jobs. AI was meant to help people like you and me get rid of the tedious, boring work.
There were several books published, several articles had been written, and even movies based on AI had come out, but still, it was far from reality.
So that’s what we thought!
Until the AI image generator tools were launched, they created an uproar and disrupted the way we see art.
These AI generators based on a variety of large language models, or LLMs, have been trained on millions of images created by every artist around the world throughout history.
If you have been reading my articles for a while, then you might have noticed me creating digital artwork for my articles.
I have always wanted to compare the best free AI generators that you and I can use to generate art. In fact, for learning prompts to generate artwork, I have been posting on X (formerly Twitter) as a part of the #100DaysOfAI challenge.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of text-to-image generators at this point in time, and some of them are Adobe Firefly, Playground AI, NightCafe, and Midjourney, the most powerful of them all.
For the purpose of this comparison, I will be using Leonardo.AI and Microsoft Bing Image Creator. The reason is that both of these AI tools are free. I will be using Leonardo AI’s “Leonardo Diffusion XL” model (based on Stable Diffusion) for the image creation, as there are several models. Bing only has DALL·E 3, as of now.
So, both are very different AI models, and I was extremely curious to test how they would generate images based on prompts.
Hence, here is a comparison of the two AI tools that generate images using the same prompts. 👇
Photorealistic Artwork of a Man
Prompt:
A meticulously crafted digital artwork, rendered with remarkable precision and attention to detail, brings to life a man wearing stylish spectacles. Resembling a photograph of the highest resolution, every feature is flawlessly captured, from the fine lines etched on his weathered face to the intricate design of the frames he adorns. This photorealistic image, exhibiting an impressive 8k resolution, exudes a sense of realism that is truly awe-inspiring.
If you read the prompts with minute detail, using keywords like “photograph,” “photorealistic,” and “stylish spectacles,” you can already see that Bing AI Image Creator has done a far better job in generating that. Leonardo AI’s image looks excellent but resembles a video game avatar.
My pick: Bing AI Image Creator
Balloons flaring Over the House
Prompt:
Balloons flaring over the house, the house is the same as the animated movie Up, beautiful visuals, Disney movie.
Well, both the images are incredibly good. They both look like they’re straight out of a Disney movie. However, if you have seen the animated movie Up, you will know that the image created by Leonardo AI looks closer to what was in the film.
The inclusion of the mountain in the image is an incredible touch, as the movie’s plot involves flying the house over Paradise Falls, which is located above the mountains.
My pick: Leonardo AI
London in Impressionism Style
Prompt:
Digital painting in Impressionism style of a London City with Big Ben in the background, capturing the vibrancy of the city and mood of the people with loose digital brushstrokes.
While I liked the image created by Leonardo AI, I absolutely loved the paint brush strokes on the image created by Bing AI. Impression style of painting was developed in France during the mid-to-late 19th century, the main feature of these paintings was the visible paint strokes.
My pick: Bing AI Image Creator
Glowing Diaphanous Ghost Men just chit-chatting
Prompt:
glowing diaphanous ghost men discussing the weather while waiting for a routine exorcism in a witch's hut room interior, storybook illustration by Akihito Yoshida and Thomas Kinkade and Beatrix Potter --v test --creative --upbeat
This is a tough one. The prompt is asking for “glowing diaphanous” ghost men, discussing the “weather”, and you can tell that the image created by Bing AI Image Creator is so incredibly accurate (in my opinion). The weather in the image, created by Bing AI, seems to be snowing. While the image created by Leonardo AI is not too bad as well, the image doesn’t seem to be matching to the style of the three artists mentioned, when compared against Bing AI Image Creator.
My pick: Bing AI Image Creator
Red Bird with Clockpunk Aesthetic
Prompt:
A vividly hued bird, its resplendent red feathers catching the eye, gazes open-mouthed at the viewer. Adorned with vintage-inspired tech glasses, this avian spectacle comes to life in a painting. The vibrant, bright, and bold colour palette enhances its clockpunk aesthetic, while a hint of celebrity photography adds an air of mystique.
The clockpunk aesthetic is a subgenre of steampunk that portrays Renaissance-era science and technology based on pre-modern designs. It involves clocks, keys, padlocks, old suitcases, phonographs, typewriters, and gears.
Between the two images, Leonardo AI’s image has more details with additional gears such as spectacles, a clock, neck gears, and more. Bing AI’s image is sideways and looks less detailed comparatively.
My pick: Leonardo AI
Joker in Byzantine Style
Prompt:
A Joker in Byzantine Style, this remarkable image depicts a mischievous and enigmatic character as if brought to life in the style of the Byzantine art era. It mesmerizes viewers with intricate details: the Joker's expressive face adorned with vibrant colours and gold leaf accents, portraying a wide grin that conceals secrets. The image, a meticulously painted masterpiece, captures the essence of Byzantine art's opulence & complexity, rich cultural history & artistic grandeur.
Byzantine Style is a highly stylized, flattened style that rejected the realistic forms of classical Roman art, in which the artwork portrayed elongated people with angular faces positioned face-on against elaborate, gold backdrops.
Bing AI’s image looks spot on with the gold backdrops and the artwork with Joker’s menacing smile. Leonardo AI’s image background is also on point, and the image is generated based on the likeness of Heath Ledger, the actor who won the Oscar for portraying the Joker.
My pick: Bing AI Image Creator
Bearded Man working on a Laptop
Prompt:
A meticulously detailed oil painting captures the essence of a bearded man engrossed in his work on a laptop. The artist skilfully portrays the scene with scattered notes and pens strewn across the desk, while the man’s posture suggests a deep contemplation about the future amidst his present tasks. With breathtaking realism, every hair of his beard is revealed, and the texture of the laptop keys can almost be felt.
Well, I am divided here. While both, the images look superb, I will give this one to Leonardo AI’s image as it looks closer to the oil painting as mentioned in the prompt. The “scattered notes and pens strewn across the desk” are on point in both the images. The realism in Bing AI’s image is better, but the oil painting feature is missing.
My pick: Leonardo AI
Mystically enchanting Warlock
Prompt:
A mystically enchanting warlock, adorned with ornate robes and intricate jewellery, exudes an aura of otherworldly power. His digital depiction is a breathtakingly vivid painting, where every brushstroke brings the character to life. The warlock's eyes glimmer with magical intensity, while his flowing hair appears to dance with ethereal energy. The details of his attire, from shimmering embroidered designs to iridescent gemstones, showcase impeccable craftsmanship.
I mean, there is no debate here where the image generated by Leonardo AI is very much detailed. The Bing AI Image Creator looks like a mystical being. In my opinion, the Bing image doesn’t even look like the image of a warlock.
My pick: Leonardo AI
While I can go on and on (believe me, I want to), you can see that with these text-to-image generator tools, there is no limit. All you need is to use your imagination, put it down as prompts, and click generate.
Since I have been experimenting (and playing) with prompts, I have realized that — the more information you provide to the image generator tool, the better the image comes out.
You see, these AI tools are trained on millions of artworks by different artists with various styles of work from around the world. All you need to know are the keywords of the artist’s name or the style of the artwork and allow the tool to do its magic.
(Disclaimer: I have rated these images based on my liking and what I perceived as accurate to the prompt. A real artist would definitely have a different opinion than what I expressed.)
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