This week I decided to take some time to try out a few different AI image generators. I was struct by some of the examples of AI generated photos we saw in class and wanted to try my hand at writing prompts for them.

I tried out DeepAI, it was ok but had adds and wanted you to buy a premium account for the full experience. I got a pretty decent picture with minimal effort on the prompt (medium sized grey cat sits on desk while owner tries to work on laptop)

cat sits on desk while owner tries to work on laptop

I tried to use Microsoft’s new AI image generator called Designer  but it wasn’t available through my U of R Microsoft account.

Next I tried Google’s image generator using their Gemini Assistant and this one was good. It worked with my Google account, so that was convenient, although they did have an option for a premium version. I tried out the same prompt and was happier with the outcome.

cat sits on desk while owner tries to work on laptopAI generated photo of cat on a desk with owner working in the background

I had an idea for using this tool as part of a descriptive writing lesson in class. The students would write out a detailed sentence or two using practicing their knowledge of adjectives, verbs, nouns, and then generating them on the Gemini to see the result. You could even tie this into art and have the students try to recreate the image that the AI produces.

Here was my attempt!

A large, black bear, slowly wonders along a quickly running stream. In the distance is a sunset with red, pink and yellow colours that light up the sky. There is a evergreen forest on both sides of the stream…

AI generated image of a bear in a stream at sunset

One of the barriers I thought of to this lesson was the access to technology. In the classroom that I am  currently pre-interning at, they current don’t have access to any tech, and I am sure that could be the cases for many classrooms. Instead of having each student enter their prompt, an option would be to have each student submit their prompt to the teacher, have them enter the prompts and save to photos, and maybe even print them out for the students!