Apple has made a groundbreaking move in the world of image editing with the introduction of its new AI model, MGIE (MLLM-Guided Image Editing). Developed in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara, MGIE allows users to describe desired changes to a photo using plain language, eliminating the need for traditional photo editing software.
The capabilities of MGIE are impressive. It can crop, resize, flip, and add filters to images based on text prompts. Whether it’s modifying specific objects in a photo or enhancing brightness and contrast, MGIE can handle both simple and complex editing tasks. The model combines two different uses of multimodal language models: interpreting user prompts and generating an “imagined” version of the edited photo.
Using MGIE is incredibly straightforward. Users simply type out what they want to change about the picture, and the model takes care of the rest. For example, if you want to make a pepperoni pizza appear healthier, typing the prompt “make it more healthy” will add vegetable toppings. Similarly, if a photo of tigers in the Sahara appears dark, instructing the model to “add more contrast to simulate more light” will brighten the image.
The researchers behind MGIE emphasize its ability to derive explicit visual-aware intentions from user prompts, leading to accurate and reasonable image editing. They conducted extensive studies across various editing aspects and found that MGIE significantly improves performance while maintaining competitive efficiency. Additionally, they believe that the MLLM-guided framework has the potential to contribute to future vision-and-language research.
Apple has made MGIE available for download through GitHub and has also released a web demo on Hugging Face Spaces. While the company has not disclosed its specific plans for the model beyond research purposes, it’s worth noting that other image generation platforms like OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 and Adobe’s Firefly AI model already offer similar functionalities. However, Apple’s entry into the generative AI space is significant, considering its focus on incorporating more AI features into its devices this year.
This latest development from Apple showcases the company’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI technology. While Microsoft, Meta, and Google have been dominant players in the generative AI field, Apple is making strides to catch up. With the release of MGIE and the open-source machine learning framework MLX, Apple is positioning itself as a serious contender in the AI landscape.
As users continue to demand more intuitive and user-friendly tools for image editing, MGIE represents a significant step forward. By allowing users to communicate their editing intentions through simple text prompts, Apple has made the process more accessible and streamlined. Whether you’re an amateur photographer or a professional designer, MGIE has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach image editing.
