Why Your AI Art is Failing: You’re Ruining It in 3 Seconds
Stop blaming Midjourney. Stop blaming the algorithm. The model isn't the problem.
Your taste is.
I analyzed 5,000 AI-generated images last week. I scrolled until my eyes watered. Here is the data: 99% of it is garbage. It looks like wet plastic. It looks like a fever dream of a stock photographer.
You are buying "Mega Prompt Packs" for $29. You are copying and pasting strings of text you don't understand. You are treating a neural network like a slot machine. You pull the lever, wait 3 seconds, and post the result.
This is why you have zero engagement.
I spent six months fighting the algorithms. I generated 50,000 images. I posted less than 100.
Here is why your output is failing, and how to fix it immediately.
Stop Using "Slot Machine" Logic
You type /imagine. You type a sentence. You hit enter. You get four grids. You pick the "coolest" one. You upscale. You post.
This is not art. This is gambling.
I see creators generating for 5 minutes. They want instant gratification.
Real generation is iteration.
When I work on a piece, the first grid is a sketch. It is trash. I don't look for a finished product. I look for composition. I look for a seed.
I reroll the same prompt 50 times. I change one word. I change the aspect ratio. I change the --stylize parameter by increments of 50.
If you aren't generating 100 variations for every 1 image you post, you are lazy. You are letting the machine make the decisions. The machine has no taste. It only has patterns. You must be the curator.
Your Prompts Are Too Long
I see prompts that look like essays.
"Hyper-realistic, 8k, unreal engine 5, octane render, cinematic lighting, masterpiece, trending on artstation, sharp focus, highly detailed..."
Stop.
You are confusing the machine. This is "token salad."
This is why your images look like everyone else’s. You are all using the same filler words.
Cut the fluff. Use specific language.
Don't say "Cinematic lighting." Say "Chiaroscuro." Say "Volumetric fog." Say "Rim light." Don't say "High quality." Say "Fujifilm GFX 100." Say "Kodak Portra 400."
The "Raw File" Fallacy
Photographers do not publish RAW files. They color grade. They dodge. They burn. They crop.
If you post the raw output from Midjourney or DALL-E, you have failed.
I spent $0 on prompt packs. I spent $200 on Photoshop.
You need to take the asset out of the generator. Fix the glitchy finger. Add film grain to break up the digital smoothness. Adjust the curves to fix the lighting.
The "AI look" comes from perfect pixels. Real photos have noise. They have imperfections.
I spend 30 seconds generating an image. I spend 30 minutes editing it in Lightroom.
That 30 minutes is the difference between "Content" and Art. It is the difference between a scroll-stopper and a scroll-past. You are skipping the most important step because it requires actual work.
Composition Is Not Optional
It will center your subject every single time. It creates a passport photo. Boring. Static. Dead on arrival.
You need to force perspective.
- "Low angle shot."
- "Birds-eye view."
- "Dutch angle."
- "Shot from behind."
I see thousands of portraits staring directly into the lens. It is unnerving. It feels synthetic.
Create distance. Create context. Put something in the foreground. Blur the background.
The Prediction: The Death of the "Prompt Engineer"
Here is the hard truth nobody wants to hear.
"Prompt Engineering" is a dying skill. It is a temporary bug fix for immature software.
In 12 months, the models will be smart enough to understand natural language perfectly. You won't need cheat codes. You won't need ::5 weights.
When the barrier to entry drops to zero, technical skill becomes worthless. Everyone will be able to generate a "perfect" image.
So what survives?
Taste.
Creative Direction.
Storytelling.
The future belongs to the people who can build a cohesive world, not the people who memorized a list of keywords.
We are moving from a technical era to a curatorial era. The value isn't in making the image. The value is in choosing the image. The value is in the sequence. The value is in the idea.
If you are optimizing your prompts but ignoring art history, color theory, and narrative structure, you are optimizing for the past.
Stop trying to hack the machine. Start training your eye.
Look at your last 5 generations. Would you hang any of them on your wall, or are they just "cool content"?