Firefly is the AI image generator built on ethical foundations. Last week, Adobe made headlines with the beta release of its new text-to-image generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Firefly. Unlike competing models that rely on stolen and unauthorized content, Firefly has been trained using Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content. This approach ensures that the model is socially responsible and free of biases that often plague AI image generators.
At Adobe, ethical considerations are at the forefront of Firefly's development. The company believes "Mitigating harmful outputs starts with building and training on safe and inclusive datasets. For example, Adobe’s first model in our Firefly family of creative generative AI models is trained on Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content where the copyright has expired. Training on curated, diverse datasets inherently gives your model a competitive edge when it comes to producing commercially safe and ethical results”.
While the ethical approach is admirable, early results suggest that it may have affected the model's performance. Compared to the more mature Midjourney platform, Firefly has a lot of catching up to do. One of the users mentioned in a tweet: “Got access to Adobe Firefly. The image generator is good, but not great, certainly when using photorealism”.
Got access to Adobe Firefly. The image generator is good, but not great, certainly when using photorealism. Compare it with Midjourney v5 (left); Firefly (right) feels much more like stock photography, less visually dramatic. pic.twitter.com/W6lAtbKTIU
— Peter Gasston (@stopsatgreen) March 23, 2023
Another user made two same prompts for Firefly and Midjuorney, and shared his result with tweet:
I ran the same prompt for @adobe firefly & @midjourney_ai v5.
— Nasim Uddin (@nasimuddin01) March 23, 2023
This was the prompt that I ran:
"A long beaked magnificent colorful bird drinking nectar from a flower while flying in the mid air, highly realistic"
MidJourney Firefly pic.twitter.com/Za5swKzTY1
Adobe Firefly has a great gap in efficiency in comparison with the Midjourney platform. Even so, the Firefly is not a bad solution. It is worth adding, the Midjourney’s AI effectiveness is not only regarding its technology maturity, but it is also important to think about how the platform was made.
Eventually, building an AI model using content obtained from others is ethically dubious and illegal. Therefore Adobe's ethical framework a competitive advantage in the long run.
As Mickey H. Osterreicher, the General Counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, said, "The law has to catch up to technology." With Firefly, Adobe is taking a proactive approach to ethical considerations, ensuring that its product is both socially responsible and commercially viable.
The Firely's results when making requests for diverse image generation are primitive, but in some cases they are cute as well.
Also, a disappointing image was made when request was about “mixed-race couples”. The expectations were broken with vague prompts.
Although Firefly is still in its early stages, it shows a lot of promise. Users can already generate fun and quirky images. While Firefly may not tick all the requested boxes, the end result is not bad.
In conclusion, Adobe Firefly represents a step forward for ethical AI image generators. By prioritizing ethical considerations and building on safe and inclusive datasets, Adobe is setting an example for the industry. As the model continues to improve, we can expect to see more enjoyable images generated with moral foundations.
