In this rapidly advancing technological age, AI has been at the forefront of innovation and revolutionary change. Apart from furnishing several statistical techniques like Linear Regression and Time Series Analysis among others to bring to light patterns and predictions, it can also be utilized for new-age paradigms such as image generators, a concept which has gained a lot of traction in the recent past.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Right from the moment we’re born, we begin to navigate through the terrain of expressing ourselves via languages. It is complex, chaotic, hurdle-ridden and ambiguous, owing to which it becomes imperative to keep at it while exposed to the language.
Colloquially representing a sea change in how advanced linguistic methodologies have managed to teach machines to understand human nuances, Natural Language Processing (NLP) primarily involves processing datasets, using probabilistic Machine Learning approaches. It often uses technology which is able to detect information and extract insights contained within datasets and classify them based on certain parameters.
Furthermore, NLP is crucial to achieve proficiency in Statistics and Data Science for several reasons as follows:
- Data Preprocessing: Prior to building predictive models, data is needed to be preprocessed. NLP techniques such as tokenization, stemming and lemmatization help in preparing text data for analysis.
- Feature Engineering: Approaches such as Term Frequency – Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) as well as word embeddings like Word2Vec and GloVe are usually used to represent textual data in a format suited for statistical modeling.
- Sentiment Analysis: Making sense of sentiments from textual data in arenas such as social media monitoring, customer feedback analysis, and brand reputation management, helps in quantifying the sentiment expressed in text, which can be further analyzed statistically.
- Information Extraction, Text Generation and Summarization: Named Entity Recognition (NER) and relation extraction are NLP techniques that help in identifying entities and their relationships from text, assisting statistical analysis. Furthermore, NLP techniques can be used to generate text or summarize large volumes of text automatically. Text generation models like GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) can be fine-tuned for specific tasks, while summarization techniques help in curtailing lengthy text into crisp summaries.
Utilizing AI Image Generators
Scrolling through our social media feeds on the daily, we must be well versed with a theme on whose basis paradigms are on their ascendency. The plethora of AI generated images and videos which are now inseparable from our lives.
We’ve scrolled through Google a plethora of times, only to see the effort taken for the numerous queries just for finding that desired image being fruitless. Nowadays, AI is there to help us in these endeavors. In this regard, AI image generators permit us to type in prompts to fit into an array of purposes, culminating in the required image popping up on our screen.
To summarize it briefly, AI image generators work in a similar way. That is, a user interface in the form of a neural network is trained by assimilating myriad image-text pairs. Once it processes this information, the system recognizes a large variety of data and can generate outputs based on the input we prompt it with.
The next step is to actually render the AI-generated image, which the current lot of AI image generators do using a process called diffusion. In essence, what starts with a random forum of noise is then edited in a myriad of steps to match their interpretation of the prompt. It could be construed as looking up at a cloudy sky, finding a cloud which resembles a dog, and then snapping your fingers to have it look more dog-like.
Top AI Image Generators
DALL·E 3
It is arguably the biggest name in AI image generators, and with good reason. Developed by OpenAI, it can be used through ChatGPT or Microsoft Bing’s AI Copilot. For any given prompt, it produces intriguing, realistic, and consistent results. Previously, it felt like the brand had gone off the boil vis-a-vis its competitors for image generators, but DALL·E 3 has brought it right back into the reckoning.
The biggest thing is that DALL·E 3 is easy to use. Tell ChatGPT or Bing what you want to see, and within a few moments, you’ll have a handful of AI-generated assortments to choose from. It uses GPT-4’s perceptiveness of language to accentuate prompts, thus providing different results.
While OpenAI no longer offers any headway to try DALL·E 3 for free, Microsoft does. If the user has a ChatGPT Plus subscription, he can use it to his heart’s content, subject to GPT-4’s limit of 40 messages per three hours. DALL·E 3 has two ways to edit images: users may ask ChatGPT to do so, and it will rerun the prompts with the required customizations; or it could be used as a select tool to limit the updates to specific portions of the image.
Midjourney
This program is known far and wide to consistently produce favorable results, with images created evidently coherent, with top notch composition and color patterns. In particular, people and real-world objects look lifelike and natural without undergoing a great deal of prompting.
Moreover, this was the first AI image generator to have scripted victory in an art competition. On joining Midjourney’s Discord server or inviting the Midjourney bot, one can enter a prompt by typing /imagine [whatever you want to see]. The bot follows this input to generate four variations of images, which can then be downloaded, facelifted, re-edited etc.
It is priced at $10 monthly for a Basic Plan which permits the creation of 200 images.
Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion allows you to set an image style, add negative prompts for the references one does not want to see in the images, uses images as part of a prompt, and does things like setting the permeability of the prompt, the number of generation steps the model ought to take, and the exact random seed it utilizes. These steps are implemented before one even gets into training it on your own dataset, which is really where this program ups the stakes.
Created by DreamStudio, this generator provides the user with loads of control from the outset. When the input is entered, there are sliders which help in determining how large the final image is, how it corresponds vis-a-vis the input, how many steps the diffusion model takes, and the number of images generated. Also selectable is what version of the algorithm the generator uses (the latest is SDXL 1.0), and even enter a specific seed if the user seeks repeatable results.
As is with its pricing, this program works on a credit system. When signing up, the user gets to avail of 25 free credits, which are good for around 30 prompts or 120 images as per the default settings. Using a more powerful model, generating larger or more images, or iterating them through more steps would utilize those credits faster. Once that is done with, the user gets to replenish the stock, starting at $10 for 1,000 credits.
Dream by WOMBO
This image generator allows you to pick different design styles ranging from authentic, impressionist, humorist, hypothetical, mystical, fanatical, ink, and many more. It can be used to concoct up to four images, with brisk creation times.
Providing users to work with several customized templates, this program also permits remixing images. Its base level usage is free, with a subscription to avail of more features achievable at a monthly charge of $10.
Adobe Firefly
This brand has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. In addition to being capable of generating new images from a detailed text description, it can create text effects from a written prompt (envisage the word “TOAST” written with letters which seem as they have been made from toast), recolor vector artwork, or add AI-generated elements to your images.
These features can be tested out via its web application. Taken purely as a text-to-image generator, along with its integration with Photoshop, the industry standard image editor, is next level. Its USP is the concept known as the Generative Fill. The idea is that post using Photoshop’s regular tools to select an area of your image, the user can just click a button and type a prompt, after which the image can be replaced with something else whose genre is totally divergent.
This program comes free for the initial 25 credits, the point from which a further cost of $5 per 100 credits gets levied as part of Creative Cloud Photography Plan.
Japser Art
Jasper Art provides fine-tuning as it lets users choose from moods, mediums, styles, keywords, and even language. Once done, a solitary click on Create Artwork enables the application to output images in under a minute which is quite fast.
Its base version is free, with unlimited image generation coming as part and parcel of the package. Users may also avail of an all-time $20 subscription, helping them incorporate techniques from the website’s premium version.
BlueWillow
This AI image generator enables users to join the Discord server or by inviting the customized bot, one can enter a prompt by typing /imagine [whatever you want to see]. The bot follows this input to generate four variations of images, which can then be downloaded, upscaled, re-edited etc.
This program is free to use.
Crayon
Stepping into the world of AI image generation, Craiyon resembles that new kid on the block with a fresh take on proceedings. Input your prompts with ranges specified in the text-to-image generator, and in a blink, you’ve got a majestic creation staring back at you.
It costs $5 on a monthly subscription pack, with a more powerful model of the website to be at the users’ disposal.
Deep AI
This program assists developers to integrate AI to their projects through its refined features, its ability to come to the rescue of artists and designers via its ability to create resolution independent vector images, as well as generates cutting-edge visuals for marketers etc.
It comes with a $5 monthly package, with the website being equipped to generate images for 500 inputs.
Starry AI
It is an automatic AI image generator that specializes in turning images into NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). It uses Machine Learning algorithms to process images without requiring user input. The unparalleled feature of this program is that it grants users total ownership of the generated images, which can be used for personal or commercial purposes. It offers both Android and iOS apps for easy image formation.
At present, Starry AI is free and allows 5 images to be generated daily.