December 2025 • Jeff Turner
Revisiting
AI Image
Generation Wizardry
A journey through three years of AI evolution—from 256px curiosities to photorealistic masterpieces that feel like pure magic.
The Evolution
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” — Arthur C. Clarke
The Beginning
Midjourney launches as a Discord bot.
First Contact
256×256 pixels. 1:1 aspect ratio only. It felt like wizardry.
Early Experiments
Logo generation shows promise but struggles with text. Great for ideation, not final output.
The Leap
ChatGPT and Gemini achieve near-perfect text rendering.
The New Normal
We’re not in Kansas anymore. What took hours in Photoshop now takes seconds.
The Players
Three titans of AI image generation, each with unique strengths
Midjourney
Still the go-to for illustrating abstract ideas and creating stunning slide backgrounds.
ChatGPT Images
Massive leaps in accuracy. Near-perfect text rendering in any style imaginable.
Google Gemini
Nano Banana Pro delivers stunning results with remarkable consistency.
The Test
One prompt. Multiple tools. Three years apart.
“a logo for a barber shop called ‘Billionaire Barber Club,’ barber scissors, flat art, vector art, solid colors, no shading”
Midjourney 2022
Ideation Only
Midjourney 2025
Better, Still Struggles
ChatGPT 2025
Nearly Production-Ready
Gemini 2025
Professional Quality
“I Am Oz, The Great And Powerful”
We’ve entered the Emerald City. All we need to do is ask, and the great wizard delivers.