Definition
Midjourney is a text-to-picture artificial intelligence (AI) service developed by an independent research lab of the same name. The service allows users to generate images based on textual descriptions, creating a wide range of art forms, from realistic to abstract styles. Midjourney’s AI is especially known for its high-quality, well-structured, and detailed images.
Origin and founders
Midjourney was founded by David Holz, who is also co-founder of Leap Motion, a well-known startup in the virtual and augmented reality space that was acquired by UltraHaptics in 2019.
The team behind Midjourney includes prominent figures such as Jim Keller (processor engineer for Apple, AMD, Tesla, Intel and co-author of x86-64), Nat Friedman (CEO of Github and chairman of the GNOME Foundation) and Philip Rosedale (founder of Second Life).
Development of Midjourney’s text-image AI began with a closed beta, which then moved to an open beta in July 2022. This allowed the public to access and use the tool, which helped it gain traction and popularity. Unlike other AI tools, Midjourney was already profitable in August 2022, proving its success in the market.
Advantages of Midjourney
Midjourney offers several advantages as a text-to-picture AI tool:
- High-quality images: Midjourney is known for producing well-structured, defined and realistic images, making it a strong competitor among other AI tools such as DALL-E and Stable Diffusion.
- High image resolution: Midjourney can generate images with resolutions of up to 1,792 x 1,024 pixels, allowing more space and detail in the images created.
- Freemium model: Midjourney offers a limited number of free image creations, allowing users to test the service before committing to a paid plan. Paid plans offer faster processing, additional features, and greater imaging capabilities.
- Easy to use platform: Midjourney works through Discord, a widely used chat platform. Users can interact with the AI bot using simple commands, making it accessible even to those with no coding experience.
- Customization: Midjourney provides a variety of commands and parameters to help users fine-tune their image creations, allowing for greater control over the final result.
- Active Community: The Midjourney Discord server provides an active community where users can share their creations, ask questions, and receive help from both other users and the Midjourney team.
- Continuous development: The Midjourney team continuously works to improve and expand AI capabilities, ensuring the tool stays up-to-date and relevant in the ever-evolving AI landscape.
How to use Midjourney
To use Midjourney, you need to have a Discord account, as AI works through that platform. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to get started with Midjourney:
- Create a Discord account: Just sign up for Discord by visiting discord.com/register
- Join the Midjourney Discord server: Visit the Midjourney website and click the “Join the Beta” button, or go directly to discord.gg/midjourney. Accept the invitation to join the Midjourney Discord server.
- Access a channel: Once inside the server, look for channels with the name “newbies”, as they are the channels in which new users can type commands.
- Write the command: To start generating an image, type the command “/imagine” followed by a description of the desired image. For example, “/imagine a beautiful sunset on the beach with palm trees”. The AI will process your request and generate an image based on the description provided.
- Interact with the results: Midjourney will present multiple variations of the generated image. You can choose to generate new variations, refine an existing image, or scale up a selected image using the available buttons.
- Save the image: Open the final image in a browser and save it on the device.