AI image generator Midjourney is no longer free thanks to Pope Francis deepfakes
Some of the AI generated images are truly amazing, with impressive deepfakes of Trump and the Pope going viral
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AI image-generating sensation Midjourney is no longer going to provide a free service, claiming the reason is down to an increasing number of users and their rather fabulous deepfake creations.
Midjourney v5 was recently released bringing a greater stylistic range and faster image production into the platform. Part of this update meant that the tool is better at understanding the user requests and when no specific style is stated, it defaults to photorealistic outputs.
This made deepfakes far easier to produce, and we have to say we enjoyed every one.
The free ride is over for Midjourney
The Washington Post reported that Midjourney CEO David Holz, the founder, and CEO, announced the end to the image generator being free, admitting there were some concerns around safety and abuse.
The recent deepfakes went viral, making Midjourney expand its “banned term list”, with arrested being added possibly because of the rather hilarious Trump arrest deepfake.
Midjourney will now cost users a subscription free, leading many to start looking for free alternatives. Bing Image Creator could start to take some ground over the next few months.
It looks as though the free/paid nature of Midjourney is still in the balance, with CEO David Holz stating “We’re still trying to figure out how to bring free trials back, we tried to require an active email but that wasn’t enough so we’re back to the drawing board,”.
Midjourneys response, while disappointing, is understandable as the realism of these ai-generated images is unbelievable. AI continues to boom and other companies already have their claws into image generation, video generation, and much more. How safety and abuse play into all of this is a bit of a hot topic since ChatGPT hit the scene.
The main reason for worry is how easy fake news can be pumped out.
