ChatGPT’s viral 4o image generation features are now available to everyone for free, albeit with some limits that can make the new AI tool a little infuriating.
Announced by OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, on X, the new native image generation has taken the world by storm thanks to its impressive ability to create images far better than Dall-E (the previous model used by ChatGPT) ever could.
You might’ve seen the controversy surrounding the image generation tool’s blatant copy of Studio Ghibli-style anime over the last week, but if not we’ve covered the drama at length – and also asked lawyers to explain its copyright ramifications.
In this article, I’m going to show you three ways to use ChatGPT 4o’s image generation that aren’t following the anime recreation trend.
Why only three you might ask? Well, unfortunately, the daily limit for free users is only three image generations, so it only felt fitting to limit the ideas just like OpenAI has limited the use of the tool.
1. Change the background
Image 1 of 2
ChatGPT’s image generation is very impressive when it comes to replacing the background of your images. In the first example above, I uploaded an image of my French Bulldog, Kermit, and asked 4o to “change the background to the beach.”
Like magic, Kermit was now on the beach, although you can tell there have been slight modifications to his likeness. For example, in the original photo, he had a pimple under his mouth, which is now completely removed.
ChatGPT 4o’s image generation is very good at determining the outline of a subject and creating a realistic background to match. While I’ve not yet tried Galaxy AI’s version of background editing, from my testing with ChatGPT I can’t imagine a better AI background editor is available for free on the market.
After taking Kermit to the beach, I thought I’d try recreating his namesake’s iconic opening scene of the 1979 Muppet Movie. In the movie, Kermit the Frog sits on a log in a swamp playing the banjo.
While Kermit the Dog can’t play the banjo, ChatGPT managed to take the source material and edit the background so Kermit was indeed on a log in a swamp. Pretty cool!
2. Use a reference to generate a new image
ChatGPT 4o’s image generation is also very good at using a source image to create anything you can imagine.
After feeding the AI tool multiple images of my dog, I asked “Can you imagine a french bulldog riding a skateboard while dressed as a frog?”
After waiting about 20 seconds, yes the image generation can be pretty slow, I had an excellent image of a French Bulldog that looks like my boy Kermit, in a frog costume riding a skateboard.
Eagle-eyed readers will notice his back paws only have three digits, but I guess ChatGPT thought the dog costume should mimic an amphibian rather than have enough space to be comfortable for the mammal inside.
Unfortunately for ChatGPT, a frog has 18 toes altogether… 10 at the back and eight at the front.
3. Change the mood
Last but not least, I decided to upload an image of Kermit in a cow costume. Why is he wearing a cow costume? You might ask. Well, for the purpose of this article I needed an image where he’s clearly a bit miffed.
You see I live in Scotland so Kermit needs a fleece to keep himself warm in the winter. Unfortunately for him, he hates wearing a fleece. That said, ChatGPT’s new image generation tools can help with that, so I asked AI to “Make this dog happy.”
The result here is bizarre because it takes everything from the previous image and recreates it perfectly, just with a smiling dog with its tongue out.
I would argue a French Bulldog always looks miserable, and a tongue sticking out like this would actually imply it’s thirsty. But AI deems this a happy dog, and to be fair, it has doesn’t a very good job a recreating the image with the mood tweaks I asked for.
Try ChatGPT image generation yourself
So there you have it, ChatGPT’s image generation is now free for everyone to try and it’s capable of some fantastic photo editing.
The image limitations are pretty annoying, however, as I was only able to generate three images without loading up my paid ChatGPT Plus work account.
I also experienced upload limitations, where ChatGPT stopped allowing me to add source material to edit after providing two images.
So it’s worth noting ChatGPT image generation is very powerful, but on the free tier you’ll need to be patient as you’ll quickly reach a daily limit.