Artificial Intelligence (AI) art tools are becoming increasingly popular with artists, designers, and creative professionals as well as students and other individuals who lack traditional art training or artistic creativity. Many students may be using these tools for school projects or just for fun. This SmartSocial guide will review the best AI art generators and list the pros and cons that both parents and students should be aware of.

Educators and parents: Guide your students' reflection and discussion with this student worksheet. (Log in to your Google account and select File-->Make a Copy)

What is an AI art generator?

• AI art generators are online programs or apps that create digital artwork from a text description
• These programs can be used to create a wide range of artistic styles, from photorealistic to abstract and surreal, and can be trained on a variety of inputs, such as photographs, sketches, and other images
• Some AI art generators also allow users to create images, edit, and manipulate the output using a variety of parameters and settings

Why do students want to use AI art tools?

• These tools can be a fun and entertaining way for teens to share their AI generated art with others, whether it be on social media platforms (such as Discord), online art communities, or in-person art shows
• These art generators give students the tools and techniques to help explore their creativity and self-expression
• Most of these generators are pretty user-friendly, so it can be easy for students to uniquely create images
• AI art generators can help teens explore and discover different artistic styles, techniques, and mediums, enabling them to experiment with new interests and skills

Top concerns of AI Art tools

• Users can use AI art generators and ChatGPT to write a book start to finish, create graphics for it, and present it as their own
• Many AI companies are being sued by famous artists claiming AI took their images to train its software without asking permission or getting any kind of license to do so
• When publishing a book on Amazon authors are required to inform them of AI-generated content but not AI-assisted. AI-generated is when AI comes up with the content idea and AI-assisted is when the user uses AI to help brainstorm, refine, or improve content

AI Art in the news

“As the first year of the generative AI era passes into the history books, the issue of whether generative AI models — which train on large volumes of human created works and data, scraped from the internet typically without the express consent of the creators — are guilty of copyright infringement still largely remains to be determined.” - Venture Beat

"Though Defendants like to describe their AI image products in lofty terms, the reality is grubbier and nastier," the artists said. "AI image products are primarily valued as copyright-laundering devices, promising customers the benefits of art without the costs of artists." - Reuters

Midjourney pros and cons

• With over 19.2M users, Midjourney is a popular option for creating watercolor images or mediums that replace ink
• Midjourney has four subscription plans to choose from and will only generate images with a monthly or annual subscription
• Users must sign into a Discord account to use Midjourney
• There are different conversation threads for users to chat with each other to discuss prompts, ideas, and share tips
• Midjourney’s community guidelines ask users to avoid creating images or use text prompts that are inherently disrespectful, aggressive, or otherwise abusive, and content must be PG-13 or below

Imagine AI pros and cons

• Imagine AI is popular for creating landscapes, portraits, character art, abstract art, and much more
• The art generator can be used on a web browser or desktop app
• Imagine AI has a discord chat that encourages users to chat among themselves
• The art generator is free to use but like most AI Art generators, upgrades and content plans are available

DALL-E 2 pros and cons

• Dall-E 2 is owned by OpenAI, the owners of ChatGPT
• This generator is a web-based program available only through a web browser 
• Dall-E 2 is free to register and use and the first 15 images created a month are free, and then users can purchase more credits to use if desired

• Some reviewers say that it has some biases built in and it may have difficulty producing more than one human in the same image (Source: ZMO.AI)
• Dall-E 2 has content filters that prevent users from creating images that violate their content policy, including violent, sexual, self-harm, or political content
• Users are able to upload existing images to Dall-E 2 and quickly edit and make multiple versions of the original image
• Users should use very detailed text descriptions in order to get the best possible images and avoid wasting credits
• It generates 4 image options for every text description and produces very realistic images

Dream by Wombo pros and cons

• Dream by Wombo is a text-to-image AI art tool available via browser or through apps by both Apple and Google Play
• There are a variety of built-in styles to start with or users can use a prompt to generate their image
• Dream allows users to save created artwork in an online gallery to access and use later
• This tool has its own Discord server and makes it easy to share artwork with others 
• Dream is free to download and use, but there is a paid subscription to access premium tools

Craiyon pros and cons

• Craiyon is an AI art tool that was formerly known as DALL-E mini, available via a web browser
• After submitting a text prompt to the site, Craiyon will generate 9 different images 
• Although Craiyon is free to use, there are subscriptions available that offer ad-free use and unlimited image generation
• Images generated from the free site may be shared and will appear anonymously in the search results. The paid subscription offers that images will remain private
• Reviewers report that often Craiyon will generate unrealistic-looking faces and body parts
• There are times when there may be too many people trying to use Craiyon and the server cannot handle the amount of traffic and will not be able to process your request at that time (Source: Business Insider)

Stable Diffusion pros and cons

• Stable Diffusion is a free AI art tool that runs online or as an extension on your browser
• This program offers a prompt search engine that contains more than 12 million prompts gathered from AI artists all over the world. The search engine allows users to browse through images and their prompts to gather ideas or to use in your project
• Stable Diffusion has a built-in content filter that prevents the creation of explicit content, but it can be unreliable and sometimes still allow violence and gore (Source: PC Guide)

StarryAI pros and cons

• StarryAI is another option for AI-generated art creation and is available online or on iOS and Android mobile devices
• The program is free to use but creators only get 5 free art generations daily. Users can upgrade to a Pro account to receive more image credits and other features
• For each creation, StarryAI will generate 4 different images and the user can choose to adjust the image, make it public, share it across social media, or download and save 
• The free version of the program only creates images in a (4:5) portrait ratio, but other image sizes are offered through the Pro accounts

Gencraft pros and cons

• Gencraft is a photo and art generation engine that can be used on a web browser or as an app for Apple or Android devices
• The app is free to use and users may generate up to 10 free images a day
• To upload and edit their own images and generate an unlimited amount of content, users will need to upgrade to Starter or Pro
• Gencraft has a social media aspect where users can publish their creations and make them publicly visible within the app. Other users can like and comment on these posts and can follow users on the platform. All messaging is public; there is no private messaging feature

Hotpot pros and cons

• Hotpot is an AI art tool that is free for users and is only available for use on a web browser
• Users can create up to 10 free (1:1) ratio images a day but may buy credits to create more and to access more features
• You can tell Hotpot what you do not want in the generated image as well as how many images you would like created at a time (up to 500)

Open Dream pros and cons

• Open Dream is a free AI image generator that is only available for use on a web browser
• New users get 20 free generation credits. It takes 2 credits to generate one image
• All images created in the free version are public for other users to see and like. Images can only be made private with an upgraded plan

Cutout Pro pros and cons

• Cutout Pro is a free online art generator that can be used in 10 different languages
• There is an online chat feature for users to utilize while on the platform but they must log in through Facebook to use it
• Images can be downloaded by purchasing credits or downloaded for free if you share the image on Twitter or Facebook 
• You can upload an image and make edits such as remove background, remove objects, or restore old images

Adobe Firefly pros and cons

• Adobe Firefly is a free AI art generator that sparks users’ creativity
• Once you have your AI-generated art, you can change its appearance by applying different styles, customizations, and effects
• New users are given 25 generative credits that are used to generate images. Users may purchase more credits as needed and are also given credits monthly through various Adobe subscriptions. If the credits are not used by the end of each month they will not roll over to the next month
• Generative credits can be used for AI in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Stock, and Adobe Firefly web app

Iamfy/Fy! Studio pros and cons

• Iamfy, also known as Fy! Studio, is a free art generator that creates images via text-to-image or by uploading an image and using a style transfer
• Users can create 3 pieces of art for free and will need to upgrade to a monthly subscription to generate unlimited images
• Fy! Studio encourages users to post their AI artwork on social media using the hashtags #FyStudio #AIArt. The most popular AI artists will have their creations featured on the Fy! Studio blog and have a chance to win a print of their creation
• Users can list their AI generated art in the Fy! Storefront for free to be printed and sold to art fans

More resources for parents, students, & educators

AI Writing Tools for Students: What You Need to Know About Jasper AI, Chat GPT, and More

ChatGPT Guide: What Parents, Educators, & Students Need to Know

How to Use AI for College Prep: What Parents, Educators, & Students Need to Know

Student's Guide to Writing High School Resumes with AI

13 Tips for Success Building a Student YouTube Channel

Best Graphics Apps for Students: What Parents, Educators, & Students Need to Know

How Teachers Can Use ChatGPT in the Classroom

Conclusion

AI art generators offer many benefits for teens interested in exploring their creativity and expressing themselves through art. These different tools can provide easy and fun ways for teens to experiment with different artistic styles and techniques while developing their understanding of artificial intelligence.