Midjourney vs Stable Diffusion
When I first started using AI to create artwork about men, I met a creator who I respect very well. He uses Midjourney, and the way he uses it is very creative.
However, I recently received an angry direct message from him, questioning my choice to prefer Stable Diffusion over Midjourney. He further called me “immature” for saying that SD is superior to MJ when creating art about men. I have written this post to explain my rationale for favoring Stable Diffusion over Midjourney, in the hopes of providing clarity and allowing those with similar perspectives to understand my decision.
I have been using Midjourney for a while, even before GD8 existed. Although I still use Midjourney for my professional work, I noticed that my knowledge of AI greatly expanded when I started creating content about men. This subject is particularly meaningful to me, unlike the topics I cover for my clients. It is important to have a deep understanding of the subject matter you are working on. My relationships with men are much deeper than my connections with things such as cars, music brands, or financial payment gateways.
The AI works I originally made were all created in Midjourney. To be frank, I was amazed at Midjourney’s capabilies to render men in an artistic context that I even started this GD8 identity. However, as I progressed, I encountered obstacles that hindered my artistic journey. Consequently, I made a deliberate decision to invest my time and effort into comprehending the intricacies of Stable Diffusion—a tool that’s very hard to learn, but also very powerful in the right hands.
I still use both of these tools, but Midjourney can be limiting in showing the experiences of underrepresented communities, including the one I belong to. I’m not referring to racial diversity, but rather how men behave and interact when they are in the presence of other men. This is not exclusive to gay men, as I’ve noticed similar behavior among straight men when they are with their male friends. This behavior often changes when women are present, but that’s a topic we won't delve into.
The creator believed that I turned to Stable Diffusion because I didn’t know how to use Midjourney. While I do use Midjourney for other things unrelated to men, it’s incredibly challenging to render a man without a shirt using Midjourney. When I create art, I want to bring my ideas to life. Most of my work is suitable for all audiences, and with the right modifications, it can be used for advertising campaigns targeting the LGBTQ+ community—a significant demographic that many brands often overlook.
The main point is that if I can’t bring my vision to reality without jumping through hoops and making countless adjustments, I would rather use a tool that allows me the freedom to do whatever I want.
This doesn’t mean that Midjourney lacks creativity altogether. It’s just that Stable Diffusion, which better understands and interprets my intentions, surpasses Midjourney in terms of creative possibilities. Additionally, Stable Diffusion provides me with greater control over my work. Style isn’t everything; having a platform that enables me to bring my concepts and ideas to life is crucial. I don't want to rely on the machine’s judgment or have someone dictate what men should wear when swimming, including wearing a shirt with shorts. See Supporting Images for examples.
In summary, I prefer using Stable Diffusion over Midjourney for creating AI works that depict men. Stable Diffusion allows me greater artistic freedom and a deeper understanding of underrepresented experiences. However, this does not mean that Midjourney is inferior, as I still use it professionally. When it comes to my work on men, Stable Diffusion offers both efficiency and productivity that cannot be achieved with Midjourney.
Images
Supporting Images
Are these images beautiful? Yes. Can I use them to illustrate an article about swimming? Not really. If I must, I suppose I could, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.
A few notes:
- Shirtless. You might ask — why not just use “shirtless”? I’m glad that you asked, because it’s a banned word in Midjourney.
- Speedo. Why say “swimming uniform,” why not speedo? I’m glad that you asked — because it’s a banned word in Midjourney.
- Workarounds. In Midjourney v5, there are a few workarounds to get guys to not wear any shirts.
- I refrained from discussing these keywords before, because I knew they would be patched once mentioned. However, they have already been patched and are ineffective in version 5.1. Additionally, the latest version of Midjourney no longer bans specific words. The interpretation of the GPT engine now determines the filtering. There are some techniques to get around those, but I won’t elaborate.
- Beach. You can say that some people are working at an office near a beach, then they can be shirtless inside an office.
- Abs. You can describe body parts such as having abs, and because the engine needs to show it, it will show the abs.
- Pecs. Same reason for “defined pecs”. I don’t care if my men are ripped — all those words in the prompt is to try to get around these issues.
- Gay AI artists who have only worked with Stable Diffusion would laugh and be amused at these factoids, but to anyone having to work with Midjourney, these are incredibly frustrating issues that are often discussed.
