Decoding the Dystopia: Why Are Midjourney’s AI Images So Gloom-Infused?

Alvaro Rattinger
3 min readSep 25, 2023

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As I sipped my morning coffee, scrolling through my feed, a peculiar image caught my attention. It was captivating in its eeriness — a landscape crafted not by a human hand, but by the algorithms of Midjourney’s AI. A sense of foreboding, a touch of melancholy, and an overwhelming curiosity filled me. Why do these digital creations, birthed by lines of code, evoke such profound emotions? This journey into understanding the dystopian undertones of Midjourney’s AI images is not just about algorithms and data. It’s about us — our desires, our fears, and the cultural imprints we leave behind. Join me as we decode this digital dystopia. Have you ever stumbled upon a Midjourney AI-generated image, only to be met with unease? I remember the first time I chanced upon one; its stark shadows and gloomy atmosphere pulled me in with fascination and apprehension. The question nagged at me: Why do many of these AI images exude such a dark aura? And more importantly, what does this reveal about the AI and, perhaps, us as its creators?

The Mirror Reflection: Our Emotions Molded in Pixels

During a casual chat with a friend, an AI enthusiast, I was given an interesting perspective. She shared an anecdote about a painting she created during a rough week. It was unintentionally dark, echoing her internal turmoil. Similarly, could the AI’s output reflect the vast amount of gloomy and dystopian content it was trained on? Our favorite TV shows, movies, books — haven’t they grown darker over the decades?

Midjourney’s AI art isn’t just a result of algorithms and data; it’s a testament to our evolving cultural psyche. As we move forward, let’s choose what we feed into these systems carefully, ensuring they echo the brighter facets of humanity.

Into the AI’s Brain: Training Data Matters

A core component of how AI functions revolves around its training data. Diving deep into Midjourney’s AI, it’s evident that it consumes many images, many of which hail from the vast internet repository of our collective consciousness. AI doesn’t ‘feel’ emotions like we do, but it sure mirrors what it sees. If our artistic inclinations lean towards the grim, the AI’s outputs are bound to reflect that.

A Universal Fascination: Our Innate Attraction to the Mysterious

But let’s pause for a moment and introspect. Why are we, as a culture, so drawn to the dystopian and grim? History reveals our intrinsic attraction to mysteries, the unknown, and the slightly eerie. There seems to be an unyielding appeal from gothic novels to modern-day thrillers. Perhaps Midjourney’s AI is just giving us what we, consciously or subconsciously, are craving.

Conclusion: Embracing the Reflection, Pondering the Future

The hauntingly beautiful images Midjourney’s AI produces may be disconcerting, but they serve as a digital mirror, reflecting our cultural tastes, fears, and fascinations. Instead of merely dismissing them as ‘gloomy’, it’s time we ponder over what these patterns signify. As creators and consumers, we can shape AI’s future outputs.

Next time you encounter a Midjourney AI image, take a moment to reflect. Ask yourself, what emotions does it stir in you, and more intriguingly, why?

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Alvaro Rattinger

Alvaro Rattinger is the CEO of Merca2.0 Magazine Author of "Nuevo juego, nuevas reglas" and "Marketing Asimétrico".