Midjourney

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[9] and version 3 on July 25.[10] On November 5, 2022, the alpha iteration of version 4 was released to users[11][12] and on March 15, 2023, the alpha iteration of version 5 was released.[13] 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 improvement while working better with more literal prompts. After version 5.2 is released with a increasingly better image quality.

Théâtre D'opéra Spatial, a Midjourney image that won first prize in a digital art competition

Image from Alice and Sparkle, a children's book illustrated by Midjourney. TIME describes this image as "showing the limits of the AI-powered technology. The illustration has several apparent flaws, including the character appearing to have claws."[22]

The program was used by the British magazine The Economist to create the front cover for an issue in June 2022.[23][24] In Italy, the leading newspaper Corriere della Sera published a comic created with Midjourney by writer Vanni Santoni in August 2022.[25] Charlie Warzel used Midjourney to generate two images of Alex Jones for Warzel's newsletter in The 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.[26] Last Week Tonight with John Oliver included a 10-minute segment on Midjourney in an episode broadcast in August 2022.[27][28]

A Midjourney image called Théâtre D'opéra Spatial won first place in the digital art competition at the 2022 Colorado State Fair. Jason Allen, who wrote the prompt that 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.[18] 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.[29]

In December 2022, Midjourney was used to create the images in an AI-generated children's book in the span of a weekend. Titled Alice and Sparkle, the book features a young girl who builds a robot that becomes self-aware. The creator, Ammaar Reeshi, spent hours tweaking Midjourney prompts, rejecting hundreds of generated results to ultimately choose 13 illustrations for the book.[30] Both the product and process drew criticism: "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," one artist wrote.[31]

A fake Midjourney-created image of Pope Francis wearing a puffer jacket, which went viral in 2023

In 2023, the realism of AI-based text-to-image generators, such as Midjourney, DALL-E, or Stable Diffusion,[32][33] reached such a high level that it led to a significant wave of viral AI-generated photos. Widespread attention was gained by a Midjourney-generated photo of Pope Francis wearing a white puffer coat,[34][35] the fictional arrest of Donald Trump,[36] and a hoax of an attack on the Pentagon,[37] as well as the usage in professional creative arts.[38][39]

Research has suggested that the images Midjourney generates can be biased.[40] For example, even "neutral" prompts in one study returned unequal results on the aspects of gender, skin color, and location.

Prior to May 2023, Midjourney implemented a moderation mechanism predicated on a "banned words" 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 religious and political figures such as "Allah" or "Xi Jinping". This practice occasionally stirred controversy due to perceived instances of censorship within the Midjourney platform.[41][42]

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". However, the system will prevent the generation of contentious images, such as depictions of global leaders, including Xi Jinping, in situations of arrest.[43]