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Midjourney

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Midjourneyis agenerative artificial intelligenceprogram and service created and hosted by theSan Francisco-based independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. Midjourneygenerates images from natural language descriptions,calledprompts,similar toOpenAI'sDALL-EandStability AI'sStable Diffusion.[1][2]It is one of the technologies of theAI boom.

Midjourney
Developer(s)Midjourney, Inc.
Initial releaseJuly 12, 2022;2 years ago(2022-07-12)(open beta)
Stable release
V6.1 / July 31, 2024;3 months ago(2024-07-31)
Websitemidjourney.com

The tool is inopen betaas of August 2024, which it entered on July 12, 2022.[3]The Midjourney team is led by David Holz, who co-foundedLeap Motion.[4]Holz toldThe Registerin August 2022 that the company was already profitable.[5]Users create artwork with Midjourney usingDiscordbot commands or the official website.[6][7]

History

Midjourney, Inc. was founded inSan Francisco, California,by David Holz,[8]previously a co-founder ofLeap Motion.[9]The Midjourney image generation platform entered open beta on July 12, 2022.[3]On March 14, 2022, the Midjourney Discord server launched with a request to post high-quality photographs toTwitterandRedditfor systems training.[citation needed]

Model versions

The company has been working on improving its algorithms, releasing new model versions every few months. Version 2 of their algorithm was launched in April 2022,[10]and version 3 on July 25.[11]On November 5, 2022, the alpha iteration of version 4 was released to users.[12][13]On March 15, 2023, the alpha iteration of version 5 was released.[14]The 5.1 model is more opinionated than version 5, applying more of its own stylization to images, while the 5.1 RAW model adds improvements while working better with more literal prompts. The version 5.2 included a new "aesthetics system", and the ability to "zoom out" by generating surroundings to an existing image.[15]On December 21, 2023, the alpha iteration of version 6 was released. The model was trained from scratch over a nine month period. Support was added for better text rendition and a more literal interpretation of prompts.

Regular models
Version Release date
V1 February 2022[16]
V2 April 12, 2022[10]
V3 July 25, 2022[11]
V4 November 5, 2022 (alpha)[12]
V5 March 15, 2023 (alpha)[14]
V5.1 May 3, 2023[17]
V5.2 June 22, 2023[18]
V6 December 21, 2023 (alpha)[19]
V6.1 July 31, 2024[20]
Other models
Version Release date Notes
--beta August 22, 2022
test/testp August 28, 2022
Niji December 20, 2022 Model specifically tuned foranime[21]
Niji 5 April 2, 2023
Niji 6 January 29, 2024[21]

Functionality

Midjourney is accessible through aDiscordbot or by accessing their website. Users can use Midjourney through Discord either through their official Discord server, by directly messaging the bot, or by inviting the bot to a third-party server. To generate images, users use the/imaginecommand and type in a prompt;[22]the bot then returns a set of four images, which users are given the option toupscale.To generate images on the website, users must first have generated at least 1,000 images through the bot.[7]

Uses

Midjourney's founder, David Holz, toldThe Registerthat artists use Midjourney forrapid prototypingof artistic concepts to show to clients before starting work themselves.[5]

The advertising industry has been quick to embrace AI tools such as Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion, among others. The tools that enable advertisers to create original content and brainstorm ideas quickly are providing new opportunities, such as "custom ads created for individuals, a new way to create special effects, or even making e-commerce advertising more efficient", according toAd Age.[23][promotion?]

Architects have described using the software to generatemood boardsfor the early stages of projects, as an alternative to searchingGoogle Images.[24]

Notable usage and controversy

Théâtre D'opéra Spatial,a Midjourney image that won first prize in a digital art competition
Image fromAlice and Sparkle,a children's book illustrated by Midjourney.Timedescribes this image as "showing the limits of the AI-powered technology. The illustration has several apparent flaws, including the character appearing to have claws."[25]

The program was used by the British magazineThe Economistto create the front cover for an issue in June 2022.[26][27]In Italy, the leading newspaperCorriere della Serapublished a comic created with Midjourney by writer Vanni Santoni in August 2022.[28]Charlie Warzel used Midjourney to generate two images ofAlex Jonesfor Warzel's newsletter inThe Atlantic.The use of an AI-generated cover was criticised by people who felt it was taking jobs from artists. Warzel called his action a mistake in an article about his decision to use generated images.[29]Last Week Tonight with John Oliverincluded a 10-minute segment on Midjourney in an episode broadcast in August 2022.[30][31]

A Midjourney image calledThéâtre D'opéra Spatialwon first place in the digital art competition at the 2022Colorado State Fair.Jason Allen, who wrote thepromptthat led Midjourney to generate the image, printed the image onto a canvas and entered it into the competition using the name Jason M. Allen via Midjourney. Other digital artists were upset by the news.[32]Allen was unapologetic, insisting that he followed the competition's rules. The two category judges were unaware that Midjourney used AI to generate images, although they later said that had they known this, they would have awarded Allen the top prize anyway.[33]

In December 2022, Midjourney was used to generate the images for an AI-generatedchildren's bookthat was created over a weekend. TitledAlice and Sparkle,the book features a young girl who builds a robot that becomes self-aware. The creator, Ammaar Reeshi, used Midjourney to generate a large number of images, from which he chose 13 for the book.[34]Both the product and process drew criticism. One artist wrote that "the main problem... is that it was trained off of artists' work. It's our creations, our distinct styles that we created, that we did not consent to being used."[25]

A fake Midjourney-created image ofPope Franciswearing a puffer jacket, which went viral in 2023

In 2023, the realism of AI-basedtext-to-imagegenerators, such as Midjourney,DALL-E,orStable Diffusion,[35][36]reached such a high level that it led to a significant wave ofviralAI-generated photos. Widespread attention was gained by a Midjourney-generated photo ofPope Franciswearing a white puffer coat,[37][38]the fictional arrest ofDonald Trump,[39]and a hoax of an attack on thePentagon,[40]as well as the usage in professional creative arts.[41][42]

Research has suggested that the images Midjourney generates can be biased. For example, even neutral prompts in one study returned unequal results on the aspects of gender, skin color, and location.[43]A study by researchers at the nonprofit groupCenter for Countering Digital Hatefound the tool to be easy to generate racist and conspiratorial images.[44]

An anatomically incorrect diagram of a rat's penis and testicles illustrated by Midjourney, published in a now-retractedFrontiers in Cell and Developmental Biologypaper, which went viral in 2024[45]

In 2024, aFrontiersjournal published a paper[46]which contained gibberish figures generated with Midjourney, one of which was a diagram of a rat with large testicles and a large penis towering over himself. The paper was retracted a day after the images went viral on Twitter.[45]

Content moderation and censorship in Midjourney

Prior to May 2023, Midjourney implemented a moderation mechanism predicated on a banned word system. This method prohibited the use of language associated with explicit content, such as sexual or pornographic themes, as well as extreme violence. Moreover, the system also banned certain individual words, including those of religious and political figures, such asAllahorXi Jinping.This practice occasionally stirred controversy due to perceived instances of censorship within the Midjourney platform.[47][48]

Commencing in May 2023, with subsequent updates post version 5, Midjourney transitioned to an AI-powered content moderation system. This advanced mechanism allowed for a more nuanced interpretation of user prompts by analyzing them in their entirety. It consequently facilitated the context-dependent use of words that had previously been prohibited. For instance, users can now prompt the AI to generate a portrait of Xi Jinping. At the same time, the system will prevent the generation of contentious images, such as depictions of global leaders, including Xi Jinping, in situations of arrest.[49]

Litigation

On January 13, 2023, three artists—Sarah Andersen,Kelly McKernan,and Karla Ortiz—filed acopyright infringementlawsuit againstStability AI,Midjourney, andDeviantArt,claiming that these companies have infringed on the rights of millions of artists by training AI tools on five billion images scraped from the web, without the consent of the original artists.[50]

The legal action was initiated in San Francisco by attorneyMatthew Butterickin partnership with the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, the same team challengingMicrosoft,GitHub,andOpenAI(developers ofChatGPTandDALL-E) in court. In July 2023, U.S. District JudgeWilliam Orrickinclined to dismiss most of the lawsuit filed by Andersen, McKernan, and Ortiz but allowed them to file a new complaint.[51]Another lawsuit was filed in November 2023 against Midjourney, Stability AI, DeviantArt and Runway AI for using the copyrighted work of over 4,700 artists.[52]

See also

References

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