Free AI Image Generators for Kids
AI art generators are evolving quickly. Teachers and Parents have got to keep up!
Eighteen months ago, AI exploded onto the scene. While a lot of teachers are suspicious of the new technology, our students have quickly integrated it into their lives, like in this viral TikTok.
Wow. This video has been viewed over 4 million times and has sparked a slew of reaction videos - some of them tearjerkers.
So, despite a lot of adults’ suspicion, AI can be a force for creativity and kindness in our students’ lives. It’s worth our time to become familiar with this tool and how it can be used in our classrooms. (Click here for some ideas on integrating AI in your world language classes.)
I created three prompts to elicit different types of artwork and used them on three popular AI image generation platforms.
The Prompts
Prompt #1: In my first review of AI art tools, AI struggled a lot with images of realistic people. I wanted to see if today’s test cases would do better. So I asked for: “A multi-generational family with 7 people”.
Prompt #2: I wanted something more fun and whimsical, so I asked for “two dogs playing piano”.
I intentionally used the numeral 7 in prompt 1 and the written number ‘two’ in prompt #2. As you’ll soon see, it didn’t make any difference, as AI ignored the number in both cases.
Prompt #3 To test the AI tools’ foreign language skills, I wrote this prompt in French: “Une paire de chaussures” (a pair of shoes). That should be fairly easy and straightforward, right? Right?
Canva Magic Studio
Website: https://www.canva.com/ai-image-generator/
Create an Account:
Required - connects easily to a Google account.
Cost:
50 free credits (one credit per prompt, and each prompt generates 4 images). After that plans begin at $10 for 550 credits per month, paid in one $120 annual payment. Canva paid account holders have free access to this tool.
Usage:
You own the images you create and may use them for any legal purpose, with a few limitations. No use for political or campaign purposes or medical or legal advice. That’s probably not too difficult for most students.
Features :
Generates 4 designs for every prompt
Images used similar art styles and color palates
There’s a helpful menu of art styles with example thumbnails. Styles included watercolor, anime, soft focus photo, etc.
Limited ability to edit your images with some filters and a background remover.
Images are 1-2 MB and can be downloaded with no watermark.
It took around 45 seconds to one minute to generate the images.
You can include negative prompts (i.e., words to exclude from the image)
Canva is a popular online design platform with a robust library of features. The AI art generator is something of an add-on to their primary product.
So how did Canva handle my prompts?
#1: a multi-generational family with 7 people
Here’s what the site gave me:
OK, at first glance these look pretty good. There are clearly multiple generations (and multiple ethnicities) represented. But don’t look too close! The faces are terrible and the hands are the stuff of nightmares - like all AI hands, evidently. It completely whiffed on the 7 people instruction. The person in the turban in #3 reminds me of the guy who picked the wrong chalice in the Indiana Jones movie.
I tried again with the same prompt and directed Canva to give me watercolor images.
OK this is better. Again, until you look closely. There are still issues with the faces and hands, including the poor little boy with three arms in image one. In image two, why does the mom have a mustache? And how old are those little people in number three?
It’s interesting that for both prompts, the artistic style and color palate are nearly identical.
#2: two dogs playing piano
There are some good things happening here. The images are cute, and it managed to give me two completely different art styles. Then again, it totally missed the instruction “two”. Some of the dogs are a little wonky (like that 5-legged dog in image three!) The dog-to-piano sizing is off. And is there a dog in image 4 sitting inside the piano? The AI is not quite ‘there’.
#3: Une paire de chaussures
Well, Canva speaks a little French. I thought the ‘shoe’ prompt would be easy, but none of these is something I would use as an image in my classroom - let alone being seen in public in such a garment. Maybe they raided the local dump for these images? But technically, Canva gave me my prompt.
Final Score: 4/10
Canva is not the winner of this review; next week I’ll share my favorite AI art generator I’ve tried so far - with more hilarious images!
Have you played with AI images? What platform is your favorite? Share in teh comments. And click here to see what AI image generators were doing a year ago with my review of Open AI, Craiyon, and Picsart!
