The factor that bugs me essentially the most about AI is that it is by no means somebody making one thing wholly authentic. Typically, what I discover is that the issues that go viral or the issues folks wish to present you at events are simply rip-offs or direct imitations of different folks.
These had been all simply my speculations, however now a brand new research that analyzed 5 million Midjourney prompts revealed who AI customers are copying, and what it says about our visible echo chamber.
Let’s dive in.
Which Administrators Are We Stealing From With AI?
When you’ve spent any time on social media, you’ve got seen the “What if [insert IP here] was a Wes Anderson movie?” video or the Ghibli-fied model of your favourite franchise or mates.
Persons are utilizing AI to only regurgitate the identical issues over and over, after which are stunned when the remainder of us name it slop.
Nicely, this pattern truly pushed the group at Kapwing to search out out which administrators folks had been attempting to mimic them ost on-line.
They researched the variety of occasions 897 standard key phrases—from Frank Lloyd Wright to Star Wars—have been utilized in Midjourney prompts. In whole, they analyzed 4,929,594 prompts to see who and what we’re replicating essentially the most.
For us filmmakers, the outcomes are each fascinating and deeply unsurprising.
The AI Most-Prompted Administrators
Essentially the most-prompted film director is, after all, Wes Anderson, clocking in at a whopping 92,378 prompts.
I believe this got here from that pattern, however folks additionally love simply fully stealing his meticulous and calculated type. Sadly, as a result of he has a hyper-specific pastel-colored aesthetic, it’s principally an ideal immediate in itself. It’s an entire visible language that AI can replicate with ease.
Here is a chart with the opposite most prompted beneath.
Credit score: Kapwing
I believe these numbers are fairly fascinating. They’re all auteurs who’ve distinct visible types, after which a well-known DP, who has their very own signature as properly.
Once more, these are folks simply being lazy and wanting issues simple and quick.
That is the highest ten, however Emmanuel Lubezki additionally made the highest 20 (#15 with 5,298 prompts). This exhibits that customers are getting particular, not simply with the vibe of a director, however with the gentle of a DP.
The remainder of the listing is stuffed with the standard suspects of visible masters: Tarantino, Fincher, Spielberg, and George Lucas.
Test it out beneath.
- Wes Anderson 92,3782
- Tim Burton 57,0003
- Roger Deakins 22,2974
- Christopher Nolan 22,2465
- Ridley Scott 20,1096
- Guillermo del Toro 19,7557
- Stanley Kubrick 16,7588
- Denis Villeneuve 15,4629
- David Lynch 13,96010
- Jim Henson 11,10211
- Quentin Tarantino 10,67712
- David Fincher 8,94213
- Zack Snyder 6,71514
- Alejandro Jodorowsky 6,395
- Emmanuel Lubezki 5,298
- Steven Spielberg 4,941
- Terrence Malick 4,697
- Wong Kar-wai 4,631
- Terry Gilliam 4,631
- George Lucas 4,456
The Greater Image: Who Else Are We Copying?
Whereas Wes Anderson guidelines the movie world, he’s not the most-prompted artist total. That title belongs to Artwork Nouveau poster designer Alphonse Mucha, who appeared in an astounding 230,794 prompts.
Credit score: Kapwing
This, mixed with the opposite high artists (Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Gustav Klimt), exhibits a transparent pattern towards classical, ornate, and painterly types.
I am not sure if that is for posters or folks simply ripping stuff off for their very own partitions.
The research additionally lined a couple of different classes:
- Most-Prompted Franchise: Star Wars (160,495)
- Most-Prompted Anime: Akira (53,333)
- Most-Prompted Architect: Zaha Hadid (63,103)
- Most-Prompted Metropolis: New York (156,598)
- Most-Prompted Quick-Meals Chain: McDonald’s (18,318), which was used greater than twice as a lot as #2, Starbucks.
Are We Simply Creating An Echo Chamber?
This research exhibits us our collective visible shorthand. Once we need “sci-fi,” we default to Star Wars or Akira. Once we need “quirky,” we default to Wes Anderson.
So, what occurs if we wish to create one thing wholly distinctive?
Nicely, we simply do not anymore.
And that is so freaking unhappy.
As a result of AI can solely steal what’s already been finished, we’re not making any new voices or concepts or visuals and even any new artists.
AI is merely regurgitating what has been finished on this echo chamber.
Summing It Up
The AI genie is out of the bottle. I do not know whether it is inevitable that we should use it, however actually some folks will.
This knowledge exhibits us what the “default settings” of our collective creativeness seem like. The true artistic work, as at all times, begins by shifting previous them.
Problem your self to be fascinating and authentic; that is what is going to make your work stand out.
Let me know what you assume within the feedback.

