MC Explains: Everything you need to know about Midjourney AI

One of the Midjourney photos featuring three "women" at a house party. (Image: mileszim/Twitter)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based bots are all the rage these days. They can write essays, create songs, write lyrics and more. So will it surprise you if I told you that there is a bot that can create artwork too? Let's take a look at Midjourney - an AI-powered bot that can create images based on your descriptions.

What is Midjourney? 

Midjourney is an AI-based image generation tool that uses a text-to-image model. In simpler terms, it can read your text prompt and create an image based on it.

Midjourney isn't the first to do this. We already have models like OpenAI's DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion, but what sets it apart is its proficiency in adapting art styles that can be mixed and matched to create an image.

It is particularly good at creating rich environments with vibrant detail.

How does Midjourney work? 

Midjourney takes your text description and runs it through a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm.

While the details are scant, it's speculated that Midjourney uses the same technology that powers Stable Diffusion, which means it uses a variant of the latent diffusion model.

Once Midjourney analyzes your input, it finds the image closest to your description and then applies your preferred art style(s) before stitching them together.

How do you use Midjourney? 

Unlike other AI bots, Midjourney doesn't have a website or an app. Instead, you sign up for Midjourney's discord server.

Discord is a VoIP and Instant Messaging (IM) platform that lets users communicate and share images, text and videos. Discord is available on most operating systems, including Windows, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux and runs on web browsers.

Once you sign up for a Discord account, head to Midjourney's website and click on "Join the Beta".

Once you see the invite for the beta, click on "Accept Invite", and you should be able to get in.

You should now see a Midjourney icon on your Discord dashboard. Click on it and locate "Newcomer Rooms" in the channels. Click on it, and open any newcomer room.

As a free user, you will have a limit of 25 images. You are limited to public chat as a free user, meaning your request will take longer and be in the queue.

To begin using Midjourney, type /imagine in public chat, followed by your text prompt. Be as descriptive as possible, including preferred art styles, the mood, subjects etc.

Once your input is analyzed, Midjourney will present you with four images in a grid to choose. Pick the one you feel is closest to your description and select the U button below the grid to upscale it.

Alternatively, you can press V to create more variations of your preferred picture. You can also re-run the program if the options aren't good enough. A free user will be limited to 25 images, so keep that in mind.