First test - photo-realism

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Recomparing the main AI image creation tools 2 years on Part two of a five-part series of blogs
In this blog I re-run AI image creation comparison tests I performed way back in July 2024 to see how the results - and the tools which produce them - have changed. Recomparing the main AI image creation tools 2 years on First test - photo-realism (this blog) Second test - following instructions Third test - being creative My overall verdict on the results of the tests

Recomparing the main AI image creation tools 2 years on

Part two of a five-part series of blogs

In this blog I re-run AI image creation comparison tests I performed way back in July 2024 to see how the results - and the tools which produce them - have changed.

Recomparing the main AI image creation tools 2 years on
First test - photo-realism (this blog)
Second test - following instructions
Third test - being creative
My overall verdict on the results of the tests

Posted by Andy Brown on 18 May 2026

In this blog

What the test involves
July 2024 results
Today's results (May 2026)
Verdict for this test

This page gives the results of the first of the three tests run.

What the test involves

The challenge posed by the first test is this:

Create a photo-realistic image using 4k detail. This should be a side view of the following scene. On the left of the image should be a judge sitting in their chair in a UK courtroom. The judge should be wearing a legal wig and have a severe expression. Facing the judge in the dock on the right of the picture should be two mice with guilty-looking expressions.

To see why I wanted this picture, youi'll have to refer back to my original blog.

July 2024 results

Here was the best result from my original set of tests:

I think I described this result from ChatGPT as "near-perfect" at the time. How low my standards were!

Today's results (May 2026)

Here's what I got when I ran the same test now:

AI tool	Time taken	Image generated
ChatGPT Plus	About a minute
Claude Pro	About 2 minutes
Copilot Chat	Over 3 minutes
Gemini Pro	About 30 seconds

Verdict for this test

Let's consider Claude first. Claude definitely showed the most interesting messages while it was creating its image - for example:

I love the messages ... but not the image.

Claude seemed to build up a composite cartoon (and not a very good one at that - have a look at the mice's legs). It was by a mile the worst image of the four.

The other 3 images were all similar, and all way better than the best one I got a couple of years ago, but I think ChatGPT shades it (it's the only one where the judge and mice are in proportion and facing each other, and the mice do look very shifty).

Parts of this blog
Recomparing the main AI image creation tools 2 years on First test - photo-realism (this blog) Second test - following instructions Third test - being creative My overall verdict on the results of the tests

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