AI Creates Expert-Level Art in Seconds
AI is creating expert-level art in seconds. Just two years ago, AI image generation technology had low output quality, with issues like six fingers or distorted faces, raising questions about its practical usability. However, current top-tier AI models now produce images nearly indistinguishable from photographs, having largely resolved past drawbacks such as text insertion errors or anatomical depiction issues.
This technological advancement offers significant opportunities, especially for solo entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses needing to save costs and time. For example, one case saw four high-quality images for a new product launch created for free in just 10 seconds, replacing work that would have cost hundreds of thousands of won from a designer. Industries like advertising, publishing, and gaming are already actively integrating this AI technology into their workflows, expanding its applications by mass-producing diverse marketing images while maintaining specific brand logo styles.
Currently, the most widely used tools each have distinct strengths. Midjourney is primarily utilized for advertising visuals and brand image creation. DALL-E, integrated into ChatGPT, offers high accessibility and allows for rapid mock-up creation without separate sign-ups. Adobe Firefly is integrated into the Adobe ecosystem, while Stable Diffusion is an open-source, free tool that can be installed locally. Canva AI allows for both image generation and design editing within a single platform.
What distinguishes the results is not the tool, but the prompt. In image generation AI, the quality of the output varies greatly depending on how the prompt is written. The basic formula involves combining subject, mood, style, and technical conditions. Simply inputting "coffee photo" will yield a completely different result than inputting "Americano on a wooden table bathed in morning sunlight, warm and cozy atmosphere, advertising photography style, high resolution, shallow depth of field.".
Image generation AI is being utilized in various fields, including social media content creation, presentation and report visuals, YouTube thumbnails, marketing images for small brands, and personal profile pictures and branding.
The copyright ownership of AI-generated images is still legally unclear, and commercial use is subject to the terms of service of the respective tool. Images mimicking the faces of celebrities or specific brand logos can lead to infringement of portrait or trademark rights, and the fact that an AI created the image does not provide legal immunity. Some platforms and media outlets have already introduced mandatory labeling for AI-generated images.