The TLDR

Highlight: This week, we’re cross-testing ChatGPT’s new Dall-E 3 extension against the market leader, Midjourney, to see how it stacks up.

Musing of the Week: Meta is rolling out AI characters based on celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner, and MrBeast. Creepy or cool - what do you think?

📣 Head to Head: Dall-E 3 Vs. Midjourney

ChatGPT’s new Dall-E 3 extension just dropped for the general public. We’ve been using Midjourney pretty frequently for a few months now, but we were excited to test an integrated solution. From pricing to image quality, we’ll compare the two models to see which one we’re likely to move forward with.

💰 Pricing

• Dall-E 3: $20/month with ChatGPT Plus or free with Bing Chat

• Midjourney: Starts at $10/month

🎮 Ease of Use

Dall-E 3 wins on user-friendliness thanks to its conversational interface. The tradeoff here is that unless you specifically tell the Chat not to modify your prompt, it will try to rewrite it. Sometimes, this ends up being more like meddling, turning your unique prompt into something more generic. While it’s harder to learn Midjourney because it lacks a conversational layer, the customization seems deeper, especially once you master the nuances of prompt creation.

🎨 Output Quality

Both are lightyears ahead of last year's tech, but Midjourney has retained its edge in quality. Dall-E 3 keeps up in cartoon styles, but if you're after a more photorealistic look, Midjourney wins. Dall-E 3 is still pretty firmly stuck in the uncanny valley.

Regardless, for most applications, you’ll be able to get a decent image out of either model as long as you’re willing to spend time regenerating.

📸 Digging Deeper

Composition:

We were optimistic about the ability to control compositions, but both Dall-E 3 and Midjourney fell short. They're keyword-focused and don’t have a general understanding of the images. This means you might find yourself in a loop, getting variations of the same image over and over. For instance, in the images below no matter how many times we regenerated, both platforms insisted on placing the sun in the center of the frame.

Style:

Both adapt well to style instructions. However, Dall-E 3 tends to add a CGI-like sheen even when you don't want it. While we could probably avoid this by building more specific prompts and telling Dall-E not to modify them, that eliminates its usability advantage.

📌 The Bottom Line

So, Dall-E 3 or Midjourney? It really comes down to what you're after—simplicity or customizability. As for us, we'll likely stick with Midjourney for most of our needs. But since Dall-E 3 comes pre-bundled with our GPT Plus subscription, we’ll certainly find some opportunities to make use of it in our projects.

• If a straightforward, easy-to-use platform is what you're looking for, Dall-E 3 is an easy choice.

• But if high quality and greater control over your creations is a priority, we'd give the win to Midjourney.

🧠 Musing of the Week

Meta is making significant strides in AI, focusing heavily on the consumer market. The tech giant is unveiling AI avatars, conversational aides for WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, image editing tools, and, notably, AI personas crafted in the likeness of cultural icons and influencers like Snoop Dogg and Kendall Jenner.

These lifelike AI characters have different names than their human counterparts - for example, Kendall Jenner is “Billie”, and Charlie D’Amelio has become “Coco.” If you start an Instagram DM with one of these characters, they are very explicit about their “purpose.” Billie is an older sister and confidante, and Coco is a dance queen/coach. This gives us pause regarding the intended role of these characters, the user’s objectives, and potential unintended outcomes.

On the bright side, these characters could potentially help tackle today’s loneliness epidemic. Billie, for example, is here to listen to your troubles and offer advice without complaint. In theory, she’s the perfect friend. Is this really any different from the primarily text message-based relationships we have with our “real friends”?

However, there's a flip side. Netizens have already expressed how ‘creepy’ these characters are, especially as it creates pathways to more intense parasocial relationships, given these characters mirror real celebrities that people actually want to bond with. This can heighten a distorted sense of reality, fuel obsessive fan tendencies, and foster illusions—or rather delusions—of friendship.

Meta promises to roll out AI slowly and with safeguards - do you trust Meta?

🙌 If you’re hyped about the generative AI industry specifically, here are some of the coolest roles we’ve seen this week:

• Marketing Manager @ Resemble AI

• Global AI Sales Strategy Lead @ Microsoft

• Artificial Intelligence Analyst @ Orgro

• Product Manager @ Hologic

• Product Manager @ SuperMoney

🔨 Check out these other AI tools we’ve been looking at this week:

• Gibbly - AI-driven game-based learning and lesson planning

• Outboundly - Cold emails and LinkedIn messages in one click

• MindPal - Upload your work information and use AI to interact with it

That’s all for this week. See you next Tuesday!

Lorel & Reily