Review AI Generation Tools
2025 solved the image generation problem.
Text rendering, photorealism and character consistency are now problems of the past.
Use:
Nano Banana Pro for photorealism and overall quality.
Midjourney for artistic work.
Ideogram for text.
But see what we're still asking these models to do: Generate one image at a time. Manual iteration. No memory across sessions. Character consistency that still breaks the moment you switch to video.
2026's fight is going to be about:
Real-time generation (currently takes 8-30 seconds)
Multi-image workflows (storyboards, comic panels, presentations)
Video consistency (where every current model fails)
Google’s rapid rise should tell you how fast this space moves. The model that wins 2025 might be irrelevant by March.
Next edition: AI for education and where the big dogs stand.
Best Overall Image Model (MVP)
Yeah, GPT Image 1.5 hit #1 on LMArena last week. Doesn't matter.
I ran both through my standard tests. Nano Banana Pro won every single time.
Nano Banana Pro gets faces, and logos right. It gets the intent behind your prompt, not just the words.
Runner-up: GPT Image 1.5
Best for Artistic/Creative Work
I love that Midjourney keeps winning this.
They've continued to dominate this area.
Nothing else comes close to it for pure aesthetic quality. The color grading, the composition.
V7's Draft Mode is a great add-on. It is now 10× faster, and is half the cost.
The caveat (there is always one): Text rendering is still terrible.
Runner-up: Stable Diffusion