ChatGPT's viral AI image generator is now free in the UK - how to use
The downsides of being a ChatGPT free user hit hard this past week. While paying subscribers flooded social media with Studio Ghibli-style memes and self-portraits, the rest of us were left to watch sullenly from the sidelines, wishing we had a ticket to the AI art party.
Well, our time has come. OpenAI has made its latest image generator available to free users in the UK, so you can finally see what all the fuss is about. In short, the tool can create images in a variety of styles using both text descriptions and uploaded files, including photos, with the help of OpenAI’s most powerful AI model, GPT-4O.
Using the AI Image Generator

The internet may have gotten swept up in the iconography of Studio Ghibli, but there’s a lot more to the AI perk. You can use it to create everything from photorealistic humans and animals in real and fanciful scenarios to business logos, educational materials, comic strips, and video game characters.
As with any ChatGPT interaction, you can refine your creations with follow-up instructions – and even upload more images. When you open ChatGPT now, you should see a message notifying you that the image generator is available. To use it, just select the “create image” button in the prompt bar at the bottom of the page and start typing your directions. If you want to alter an existing image, you can also upload it here. Once you’re happy with the text, press enter and wait for the results.

Be warned: You’ll have to be patient as the process can take over a minute. And, seeing as this is the free version, it comes with some serious limitations: you can only upload a couple of files before you’re asked to upgrade for a subscription. There are also restrictions on how many images you can make per day.
In case you’re wondering, you’ll get way more opportunities if you sign up for a ChatGPT Plus membership for $20 (£15.36) per month. And, if you really love it and have the cash to spare, you can get unrestricted access with the Pro tier for a whopping $200 (£153.64) per month.
Types of Images You Can Create
Seeing as you don’t get many chances to experiment, it’s important that you get your image right straightaway. And, the best way to do that is to use descriptive prompts that you can easily refine. If you need some inspiration, these are the types of things you can do with ChatGPT’s AI image generator:
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Put yourself in a meme:
Prompt: “Generate this meme with my face in the image.”
Upload: Two images, one of your favourite memes and one of yourself.
An encyclopedia entry for a dalmatian in a feather boa:
A job-recruitment ad for a software engineer in the style of the WWI ‘Uncle Sam, I Want You' poster:

Comic strip about a little girl and her pet dragon hunting for Easter eggs:
A self-portrait of a person as an astronaut on the moon, in the style of classic space art:
A Studio Ghibli style image:

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