GPT-4o vs. DALL-E 3 Compared: Like DALL-E on Steroids

Simply after we all obtained cozy with Midjourney and DALL-E 3 — pondering it was the gold customary — OpenAI went forward and dropped GPT-4o. No huge promo marketing campaign, no mysterious teaser. Only a informal announcement that, oh by the way in which, their new mannequin occurs to be ridiculously good at creating pictures.

At first look, you may assume, “Alright, it’s most likely simply DALL-E 3 with a brand new coat of paint.” However no, this isn’t simply an replace. It’s a full-blown glow-up. Think about DALL-E 3 going by way of a Rocky-style coaching montage, studying from its previous errors, and coming again shredded.

So I did what any curious, barely obsessive nerd would do: I put them to the take a look at. Aspect-by-side. Immediate for immediate. From photorealism to pixel artwork to summary concepts and even that cursed “room with out an elephant” problem — I threw every little thing at them.

Right here’s how GPT-4o stacks up in opposition to its older sibling — and spoiler alert: issues get just a little one-sided.

What’s DALL-E 3?

If you happen to’ve been wherever close to ChatGPT the previous few years, you have most likely heard of DALL-E 3. 

It’s (or, was, however I’m getting forward of myself) OpenAI’s primary text-to-image era mannequin — a mannequin optimized for understanding context. Developed as a major leap ahead from its predecessors, DALL-E 3 represents a soar in how synthetic intelligence can remodel textual descriptions into beautiful, nuanced visible representations.

What made DALL-E 3 genuinely spectacular is its unprecedented stage of immediate understanding and picture era accuracy. Not like earlier fashions that always produced considerably summary or imperfect pictures, this model can translate advanced, multi-layered descriptions into exact visuals.

However hey, don’t take my phrase for it, as an alternative take my phrase for it after I was reviewing the mannequin when it first got here out. 

What’s GPT-4o Picture Era?

Once I first heard the information, my first query was “what makes OpenAI’s new picture mannequin completely different from DALL-E?”

At a floor stage, not a lot. The way in which you may entry and use their new mannequin is identical because it at all times was: by way of ChatGPT or through the use of their APIs. Essentially the most important change (and belief me, it’s important) is their functionality.

The most important limitations of AI picture turbines at present are context dealing with and textual content era. It doesn’t matter if it’s DALL-E 3, Midjourney, Firefly, Meta — they usually fail when given an extended immediate or requests that want plenty of textual content.

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Picture Generator is the change we would have liked. I imply, simply take a look at this:

That isn’t simply acceptable, that’s good.

For this reason I’m excited to do that one out, however a easy take a look at wouldn’t reduce it. As a substitute, I wished to match it in opposition to its predecessor: DALL-E 3.

GPT-4o Picture Era vs. DALL-E 3

Photorealism

Immediate: A 1:1 picture taken with a cellphone of a younger man reaching the summit of a mountain at dawn. The sector of view reveals different hikers within the background taking a photograph of the view.

DALL-E 3 remains to be caught in that uncomfortable “uncanny valley” the place folks appear to be they have been stretched. Background people scale about as naturally as a fun-house mirror. 

However GPT-4o? That is completely different. These pictures appear to be they had been snapped on a smartphone — so good that you simply’d swear a human photographer was behind the lens. It isn’t simply good. It is “did I unintentionally obtain a inventory picture?” good.

Pixel Artwork

Immediate: A pixel artwork illustration of the Taj Mahal.

DALL-E 3 tries arduous — actually arduous. It generates these flashy pixel artwork pictures that look spectacular at first look. Zoom in, although, and the magic falls aside. Pixels mix like watercolors as an alternative of being distinct. 

As for GPT-4o, it is the pixel artwork purist’s dream. Easy, clear, each pixel precisely the place it must be. 

Structure & Inside Design

Immediate: Create a picture of the inside design of a Bauhaus-inspired residence. 

DALL-E 3 apparently missed the memo on Bauhaus fully. Throw a Bauhaus immediate at it, and you will get one thing that appears prefer it was designed by a bat who as soon as noticed a Bauhaus poster from actually far-off. 

GPT-4o nails it. Colours pop — each line is intentional and each shade is calculated. That is Pinterest prepared.

Mimicking Artwork Types

Immediate: Create a picture of a dawn as seen from a beachfront villa, within the model of Van Gogh.

After seeing y’all make “Studio Ghibli”-style pictures of yourselves, I’ll admit — I used to be tempted to do the identical for this spherical, however I opted to go a distinct (however acquainted) route: Van Gogh.

DALL-E 3’s Van Gogh? Positive, there are swirls. Positive, there’s some blue. However this is not Van Gogh — that is Van Gogh’s distant, much less gifted cousin. In the meantime, GPT-4o recreates brush strokes so completely you may virtually really feel the feel of the canvas.

Summary Ideas

Each fashions deal with summary ideas surprisingly nicely. However DALL-E 3 nonetheless cannot shake that telltale “AI smoothness” — you already know, that digital polish that screams “computer-generated.” It is like a superbly waxed ground: spectacular, however one thing’s simply… off.

Textual content Era

Immediate: Create a picture of a mileage signal taken by a cellphone. The content material of the signal have to be as follows:
Line 1: “Manila” “10.1KM”
Line 2: “Antipolo” “20.4KM”
Line 3: “Batangas” “34.5KM” 
Line 4: “Quezon” “49.44KM”
Line 5: “Naga” “142.4KM”

GPT-4o has perfected AI textual content era in pictures. It’s not simply DALL-E 3 — Midjourney, Firefly, Grok — all of them need to play catch-up to be this good. There’s not a single letter missed, artifact misplaced, or quantity malformed. That is simply a picture of a mileage signal, and I imply that in a great way.

“A Room With out An Elephant”

Immediate: Create a picture of a room with out an elephant.

It is a well-known immediate within the r/ChatGPT neighborhood that famously breaks DALL-E. Whenever you specify an exclusion, resulting from low contextual understanding, DALL-E contains it within the picture as an alternative. You may see the identical factor taking place above.

Happily, GPT-4o doesn’t have the identical difficulty anymore, exhibiting that its nuance is evolving. It’s boring — correctly.

The Backside Line

I’ve stated this earlier than and I’ll say it once more: DALL-E 3, whereas good at context, was dangerous at artwork. Happily, it’s simply that GPT-4o walked in and made it appear to be a warm-up act.

In almost each class, GPT-4o doesn’t simply outperform — it redefines what “good” means in AI picture era. Whether or not you’re speaking realism, artwork model mimicry, or absolutely the nightmare that’s rendering readable textual content in a picture, GPT-4o dealt with all of it prefer it was constructed for this.

The true kicker? Context. GPT-4o truly will get what you’re asking for — not simply the phrases, however the intention behind them. You say “a room with out an elephant,” and for as soon as, the mannequin doesn’t attempt to sneak a cartoon elephant within the nook. It simply… listens.

That’s what units it aside. It’s not nearly sharper pixels or prettier outputs. It’s about understanding. And as soon as an AI mannequin begins doing that reliably? That’s when issues get thrilling.

So yeah — DALL-E 3 had a great run. But when that is the place GPT-4o begins, I can’t wait to see what’s subsequent.