Lately, I’ve gotten into Midjourney AI art, as well as Dream by WOMBO.

What is Midjourney? It’s an AI program that basically creates anything you ask it to create. Dream is another similar program. There are a bunch of these AI art programs out there. Just recently, Microsoft also released Visual ChatGPT.

I’ve begun using it for making pics for my articles on here and Medium.

I even got a monthly subscription for Midjourney after I surpassed the trial limit on pics. You can use the service for free to make about twenty visuals. After that, the subscription has different tier levels. I went for the cheapest one for now, at $10 a month. That allows me to make 200 visuals a month. But the rate I’m going, I might need to upgrade my subscription at some point.

Rather than being afraid of AI, as I’ve noticed many writers and artists have become, I think it’s best to embrace the new technology. It’s similar to the rapid growth of the internet. Even though the web has obviously displaced a lot of print publications, it still made enormous opportunities for digital publications. Those companies and people who adapted survived. I used to work in the printing industry, so I’m well aware of how that entire industry consolidated, and then shrank to its current state, under the power of the internet.

New tech is always scary at first. And who knows, maybe ChatGPT displaces a lot of writers on the web. But I don’t think so. I don’t think any computer program can fully replace a unique human voice that offers value and insight. Pointless listicle articles and Buzzfeed-style nothingburger content that adds little but obnoxious ploys for clicks? Yes, I can see that getting turfed out the door. As it deserves. But valuable human-to-human interaction is never going away.

There are a bunch of advantages to using Midjourney for pictures on Medium, also. One, there’s no copyright issues. Two, you can make pictures that are more unique, and reflect the theme or subject of your article better. Three, it’s very cheap with a monthly Midjourney subscription. You could even get them for free if you are able to stick with the trial. And finally, it’s freed me from having to use generic photos from sites like Pexels, which I often found unsatisfactory.

I’m not saying I won’t ever use real photos again. A good (human-made) photo is still a marvelous thing. I just like having more control over how I present the look and tone of my articles. Midjourney and Dream, my two AI sites of choice at the moment, give me that sense of control. And the results are actually really good. As I stated in a tweet some time ago, AI art is sometimes like extracting abstract imagery out of someone else’s consciousness while they’re dreaming, of particular objects. It can be strange and surreal. But AI visuals can also be realistic and striking.

Except for human hands. For some reason, AI hasn’t nailed the intricacies of the human hand.

Anyway, here’s a video/slideshow I made with Midjourney photos. The prompts I used involved portraying different famous Hollywood directors as classic Disney characters as hand drawn illustrations. I think Tarantino turned out the best. Though Spielberg is a close second.

In case you didn’t know, AI art reimaginings has become a popular niche on YouTube. People are posting things like Family Guy characters in real life. Or Batman as a dark ’80s fantasy. And many other variations. I wanted to test out my own idea.

Please give it a watch: