Introduction

Machine learning applications like Stable Diffusion allow anyone to create images just by submitting a prompt consisting of a text description. This exercise gives you practice with one tool and invites you to ask what impact could this innovation have on creative people and careers.

👆 Sign up for a text-to-image app

1. Visit the tool recommended by your instructor and sign in with your school Google account. (If your instructor hasn't specified a tool, you can use Gemini.)

   ℹ️ As of fall 2026, Gemini's free tier generates roughly 20 images a day with its Nano Banana image model. Alternatives if you hit the limit: Leonardo.ai (about 150 free tokens/day) or Microsoft Designer.

🗣 Prepare your prompt

In groups:

2. Decide who will answer each question (more than one person can answer the same question), and choose the following features of your image:
   • Medium
   • Subject
   • Details
   • Style
   • Composition

   Here are some examples of prompts that fit this template:

   • A digital painting of a snowy mountain landscape with vibrant pink and purple skies in the style of Impressionism with a focus on large, sweeping brush strokes and atmospheric lighting.
   • A charcoal sketch of an old man with a long beard and expressive eyes in the style of Renaissance portraiture with a close-up composition, capturing intricate facial details and emotion.
   • A pencil drawing of a futuristic cityscape with sleek, towering skyscrapers and flying vehicles in the style of cyberpunk art with a perspective from a high vantage point, emphasizing the city’s scale and neon glow.
   • A 3D render of an ancient Greek temple on a hill surrounded by olive trees in the style of classic architectural visualization with a low-angle composition to emphasize the grandeur and historical context of the structure.
   • A digital illustration of a mystical forest with glowing mushrooms and ethereal creatures in the style of fantasy art with a central composition that draws the eye to a shimmering river running through the scene.

👶 Submit naive prompt

3. Ask for an image in the chat using at least one truncated version of your prompt that only includes the Subject, eg: "A picture of a cozy cottage."
⚠️ Some special recommendations for CollaborAITE:
• You must tag @ai and choose an image model like Gemini Flash Image.
• Turn off Internet access, Chat context, and System prompt for best results.
• To modify an existing image, you must first copy-paste it into the chat (using the image upload feature) and then provide the necessary instructions for editing.

🧑‍🔬 Submit advanced prompt

4. Create a new chat (so earlier context doesn't help it) and submit at least one advanced version of your prompt that only includes Medium, Subject, Details, Style, and Composition, eg:
   • A chalk pastel watercolor oil painting clay origami of a cozy cottage lighthouse red barn treehouse windmill by a lake under a starry night sky on a rocky coast during a storm in a snowy field at dawn beside a river in autumn foliage on a hilltop surrounded by wildflowers in the style of Impressionist landscapes Japanese ukiyo-e prints Anime Van Gogh's Starry Night Cubism with a wide-angled composition that captures the reflection of the stars on the still water close-up composition that emphasizes texture and fine detail low-angle composition that makes the subject look monumental bird's-eye view that shows the surrounding landscape symmetrical composition centered on the subject .

   ℹ️ You do not need to pick one of these options—try to come up with your own creative combinations.

📥 Post screenshots

5. As a group, submit two screenshots to #x-text-to-image. One should be your worst result and the other your best result, drawn from either the naive prompt or the advanced one.
6. Then vote on the best improvement from naive to advanced prompt (with 👍) and the least improvement (with 👎).