Midjourney stats: The rise of AI in visual creativity

AI is rapidly transforming the way in which creative professionals are able to produce content. AI tools don’t just support professionals with content creation but they are helping professionals brainstorm ideas, create work more efficiently and stand out in a crowded market.

There are plenty of AI tools but Midjourney is a leading tool in the AI-driven visual creativity space. It acts as an image generator, whereby users can input text prompts and receive downloadable personalised images in a matter of minutes. With more and more creatives leveraging the power of AI, tools like Midjourney are only increasing in popularity and its time we pay attention to the impact they can have in the creative industry.

In this blog, I have broken down key stats about Midjourney and its place in the creative industry. As well as this, I cover exactly what Midjourney is and what it does, the evolution of AI in the creative industry, the pros and cons of using Midjourney, and what the future looks like for AI in this field.

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Midjourney Stats

• Midjourney has 19.26 million registered users on its discord server, compared to its 17.5 million users in 2023.
• Their daily active users fluctuate between 1.2 / 2.5 million.
• 4 in 10 users are female, and 6 in 10 users are male.
• 68% of the Midjourney users stated they used the platform for fun, while the other 32% said they used it as a tool.
• Photutorial has estimated that Midjourney has made around $250 million in revenue.
• Midjourney was founded by David Holz in July 2022 in San Francisco, California.
• The largest portion of Midjourney’s user base comes from the US, making up nearly 20% of total users.
• 80% of users get a paid membership within a week of joining the Midjourney server.
• Around 20 to 40 jobs are submitted every second through Midjourney’s Discord server.
• Midjourney’s user growth is increasing and is predicted to gain 23,000 new users per day.
• Midjourney has a conversion rate of 21.5% for online registrations, turning passive watchers into active users.
• Midjourney’s high user engagement is evident, with 7.5% of its user base (approximately 1.1 million users) actively engaged at any time.
• According to ContentDetector.AI, Midjourney has around 8.64 million Android users, whilst desktop seems to be the most favourable platform with 11.52 million users.
• According to SkimAI, 50% of users exclusively use Discord to access Midjourney. Showing the importance of the tool to some users.
• Instagram is the leading platform for sharing Midjourney images, with 45% of users choosing this platform to share their images on it. 

What is Midjourney (+ what features does it offer)

Image source

Midjourney is an AI image generator that uses text prompts to create realistic and unique visual imagery.

The tool utilises Natural Language Processing (NLP) and allows users to customise images by specifying artistic styles in their text prompts. Therefore, the images can mirror various styles and designs. It is accessed primarily through the Discord platform. The image generator is used by both businesses and individuals – really anyone looking for a quick and effective way to generate high-quality images from text.

Midjourney is based on a subscription model, where users can either pay for a basic ($10 per month), standard ($30 per month), pro($60 per month) or mega ($120 per month) Midjourney subscription. The plans can be paid yearly depending on user preference.

Below I have broken down the key features Midjourney offers:

• Text-to-image generation: As mentioned above, the main purpose of Midjourney is to help users create high-quality, personalised imagery based on text prompts. Users can include text within their imagery by using double quotation marks in their prompts. Using a standard plan the image can be generated in less than 3 minutes.
• High-quality imagery: A key feature of Midjourney is its ability to create high-quality AI imagery. However, the detail of a picture does depend on the user’s prompt.
• Complex prompts: The AI algorithm that makes up Midjourney can understand and compute complex text prompts (or even those with typos).
• Sharing: Users can quickly and efficiently download, share and export the generated images.
• The Discord bot: As Midjourney is primarily used on Discord, the bot on Discord can let you create images in less than a minute. Users can add this bot to any Discord server and use the generator. On Discord, users can also create short videos using Midjourney but you can’t do this using Midjourney alone.

Now we have broken down exactly what Midjourney is and what it can do, let’s take a look at how Midjourney fits within the AI visual creative industry. In the next section, I have explored the evolution of AI in visual creativity and ultimately how Midjourney came about in this industry.

The evolution of AI in visual creativity: How Midjourney got to where it is

It is no secret that AI is becoming (and in so many ways, already is) a huge part of our daily lives; it is revolutionising numerous industries across the world and the evolution of AI in the visual creative industry is impressive. Over time, AI has changed the ways art can be created. Of course, the evolution of AI is complex and encompasses more detail than I can go into in this blog, so below I have outlined a brief overview of AI evolution in image generation:

Early AI developments within the creative industry were focussed on automation and mimicking simple images. Digital image processing actually started as early as the 1960’s where basic algorithms were used to edit images. Machine learning models began to integrate with image generation in the late 80’s/early 90’s. 

In the 2010s, the advancements in deep learning and neural networks meant that models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) were introduced in 2014. GANs made high-quality photo editing, enhancement, style transfer and image generation more accessible, meaning more people were able to leverage the professional-level capabilities of AI. 

Midjourney, which is built on the principles of GANs and deep learning, emerged as one of the most popular AI image generators within the field in July 2022. By making AI image generation accessible to both people and businesses, tools like Midjourney help more people create high-quality imagery using AI.

AI image-generation tools are constantly evolving and continue to play an integral role in the creative process for many businesses and individuals. Where will the capabilities of AI end? The truth is … no one actually knows! 

The benefits of using Midjourney for visual creativity

Easy to use

As Midjourney can create images within a matter of minutes, it means users can experiment, re-do and edit images efficiently. It also has a fairly user-friendly interface where users can use the buttons and sliders to adjust settings when creating the specifications for an image. Another benefit of using Midjourney is that users can use previously generated images as references in prompts, making prompts more specific and the outcome more desirable.

Offers customer service

Midjourney offers customer support to users through its Discord community. Because of the community, users can receive responses to questions from other Midjourney members. As well as this, Midjourney does offer step by step instructions and guides to create the most effective prompt. Despite not having a customer service phone number, Midjourney does offer email support.

Beneficial for content creators

Because Midjourney helps to create vibrant, attention-grabbing and realistic images, it is a beneficial tool for content creators who need to produce engaging content to their followers. Due to the customisation element of Midjourney, users can be confident that there content is unique but also take inspiration from the Midjourney explore page (which features work from other users).

The Midjourney community

As mentioned above, Midjourney does have an active community of users. It is easy to share creations, ask for inspiration and seek guidance from other users using Midjourney.

Beneficial for marketers

Crafting and curating engaging content that is on brand and drives results is crucial for marketers. Therefore, Midjourney can be beneficial for marketers looking for social media/website graphics or assets quickly. However, AI-generated content may not be the best choice for marketers; I have explained more about why marketers shouldn’t choose AI over human-created content further on in the blog. So, if you are thinking of using AI-generated tools like Midjourney, make sure to go give that section a read now!

It’s clear that Midjourney does have some benefits, but it’s important to understand that AI image generation has its challenges, too. Let’s explore that further.

The challenges of using Midjourney for visual creativity

There’s no doubt that technology like Midjourney has revolutionised visual creativity, offering people of all backgrounds new ways to produce a plethora of striking visuals quickly and efficiently. However, the rapid rise of tools like Midjourney comes with a lot of challenges for AI and visual creativity as a whole.

Originality is one of the biggest questions these tools come with. Whilst Midjourney is capable of generating highly detailed and aesthetically pleasing images, it works by drawing from vast datasets of existing work, which in turn raises concerns about derivative art and potential plagiarism. The lack of true creative intent or emotional understanding means that often, AI image-generating software like Midjourney prioritises style and surface-level impact over deeper meanings. Additionally, many artists argue that software like Midjourney uses their art as learning without permission, blurring the lines between creativity and fair use and raising ethical and copyright issues.

Another challenge lies in the bias within the datasets Midjourney and other platforms use to base their visuals. Since these tools learn from existing images, they can inadvertently replicate cultural inaccuracies, stereotypes, or limited perspectives which can reinforce existing biases rather than challenge them. For human creators, this can create tension whilst potentially using AI to enhance their workflow as there is fear that AI could potentially replace jobs or devalue traditional artistic skills. Moreover, the creation of images through platforms like Midjourney raises questions about what it means to be an artist in an age where you can generate images cheaply and sometimes freely with just a few prompts.

Next, I have provided some bonus stats for you. These cover AI and visual creativity more generally to help give you an idea of the wider industry.

Bonus stats: AI and visual creativity

• According to AIPRM, the global image market is projected to be worth over $0.9 billion by 2030, a 254% increase from 2022.
• Nearly half of artists (45.7%) found text-to-image technology very useful in their artistic process.
• Less than one in ten (8.2%) artists said they planned to showcase their text-to-image generated images in art venues.
• According to itsnicethat, 83% of creatives are already using machine learning tools. 
• A survey carried out by Engine Creative showed that 55% of the respondents agreed that they were unsure whether AI would force humans to become creative. 
• Despite common preconceptions, almost half of all 41-60-year-olds are using AI in their role often or all of the time. 
• 27% of Americans have seen AI-generated art, though many don’t recognise it.
• 76% of people don’t believe AI-generated work should be called ‘art’ 
• 89% of artists fear current copyright laws are outdated for handling AI art. 
• The highest-valued piece of AI art was a portrait of Edmon Belamy, it sold for $432,000.

What the future of AI looks like

AI image-generating platforms are becoming increasingly more complex and are capable of producing highly detailed, professional visuals in response to simple text prompts. Technology like Midjourney has the potential to transform industries like marketing, film, gaming and publishing by accelerating workflows, cutting costs and allowing accessibility to people without a background in design or art. So with all of that said, will image-generating platforms ever pose a threat to human artists and graphic designers?

Whilst AI-generated art is undeniably impressive, there are fundamental aspects of human creativity that AI struggles to replicate. Human designers bring context, emotion, storytelling and cultural sensitivity to their work, which are essential when creating visuals deeply with targeted audiences. AI tools like Midjourney operate based on patterns and data from existing works and lack true creative intent or the ability to generate original concepts that humans can. There’s no doubt that AI can generate stunning iterations by following stylistic prompts, but it often falls short in projects requiring brand identity and emotional impact.

Many argue that AI-generated art is unable to replace lived experiences, personal stories and unique perspectives and there are constant ethical and legal challenges emerging every day surrounding AI art. Personally, I’ve used a lot of AI image generators and feel they never quite give me what I need if I need something a bit more specific. Furthermore, for people lacking experience in design tools such as Photoshop, it will be hard to edit an image that is AI-generated and craft it into the original vision.

Looking into the future, it’s more likely that tools such as Midjourney will become more complimentary to human creativity, rather than replacing it entirely. Designers and artists may increasingly use AI for ideas, mood boards or speed – freeing up more time for strategic, high-level thinking. In conclusion, I think tools like Midjourney will undoubtedly reshape the creative landscape, but will never replace the jobs of graphic designers and artists.

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