Using Midjourney to create better prompts for Black characters

How MidJourney levels the playing field

Being both a marketer and a Black man, it’s crucial for me to constantly stay updated on the latest tools that can enhance my ability to reach customers effectively and streamline my workflow. That’s why Midjourney caught my attention. As someone who doesn’t consider himself a true creative (or journalist, so pardon the errors), this tool empowers me to generate stunning images based on my imagination. With Midjourney, the possibilities are endless — if you can picture it, you can (mostly) bring it to life.

The use of this technology has sparked controversy as it enables individuals like me to participate alongside professional artists. While I acknowledge this concern, I would like to redirect the focus of this discussion.

Understanding The Current Limitations of Midjourney in Terms of Bias

Understanding the limitations and biases of advancing technology is vital. Data sets are crucial for decision-making, but they can contain unintentional biases. Unconscious bias can arise from the individuals who collect and interpret the data, as their attitudes and beliefs can unknowingly influence the process.

Additionally, historical data may contain biases due to systemic issues like marginalization and discrimination. It is essential to identify and address these sources of unconscious bias to ensure unbiased and reliable results. In a society increasingly reliant on data, safeguarding against unconscious bias in data sets is key to creating a fair and just society.

Creating Authentic Non-White Characters in Midjourney

I’m relatively new to using Midjourney, but I’ve quickly learned how to create some pretty dope images. Being a Black man who cares deeply about my community, my aim is to capture the essence of my background and connect with others who live the same shared experiences.

This is where I began realizing the biases in Midjourney. But let’s be honest, this is no surprise. Many articles have already talked about how the datasets of these Large Language Models reflect society. My aim is to assist those who want to create images of Black people by guiding them on how to craft their prompts more effectively. To save others time and energy, I’ll share a few examples of the outputs I’ve generated.

The “Woman” Prompt

I started with a very basic prompt. I asked Midjourney to imagine a woman staring into a camera with a big smile. It’s a sunny day and we want the photograph to be captured by a Canon EOS Mark IV camera. I aIso set the aspect ratio at 16:9, using version 5.2.

wide shot, woman staring into camera, happy smile, Sunny: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera with a Canon EF 24–70mm f/2.8L II USM lens — ar 16:9

Prompt: “woman”

Check it out, folks! Feast your eyes on what Midjourney associates with the word “woman.” We’ve got three white ladies and one Asian gal in the mix. So hey, we’ve got a little bit of diversity going on here. You could say we’re making some “progress.” But here’s the thing I’ve noticed with a lot of my prompts — if I don’t explicitly specify the type of woman I want, I’ll end up with a default white lady (at least that’s been my experience).

Prompt: “black woman”

Refining my prompt with the addition of “black” yields the desired mixture. However, it is worth noting that even in this iteration, we have one individual with a darker complexion and three with lighter skin tones. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a clear understanding of the desired complexion for the output. After running this test multiple times, I will now present the results.

Prompt: “dark skinned woman”

Check out how the women in this result rock the hairstyle as the 3 lighter skinned ladies in the previous example (curly Black girl hair). We know that Black women sport a wide range of hairstyles, but if we don’t provide specific details, we often see similar styles. And even when we do specify (as we’ll see later), the results don’t change much.

Prompt: “nubian skinned woman”

Although many of us Black folk use “Nubian” as a way to describe our Black women, Midjourney did a little “better”. These women rock their African heritage with pride. From their gorgeous skin tones to their exquisite headdresses, they exude the spirit of Africa. Sure, we know that Africa is a diverse continent with many different backgrounds.

When I mention backgrounds, I’m referring to the images of the settings behind the women. These backgrounds often resemble the familiar African villages that we see on TV. However, it’s important to recognize that Africa is a diverse continent and these backgrounds only highlight the bias in datasets. Additionally, since the prompt doesn’t provide any specific guidelines for the background, it’s fair to interpret and use any suitable background.

Prompt: “african woman”

Here we see similarities to the previous “nubian” prompt. They all have distinctive headdresses and the backgrounds look very rural.

Prompt: “african american woman”

The African American woman prompt is very similar to what we saw with the Black woman prompt. We have the same curly hairstyle, but this time we only have lighter skinned women.

I started to think about ways that I could modify the prompt to get darker skinned women as the output, so I tried “chocolate”. What did that yeild?

Prompt: “chocolate woman”

We have achieved improved results, and in the bottom right corner, there is an output featuring a unique hairstyle that breaks away from the typical “curly Black girl hair” we are used to. But, look at her background… does it remind you of something?

The “Hair” Prompt

My new goal was to explore the variety of hairstyles that Midjourney associated with Black women (I knew only a few of them). It’s worth noting that since these hairstyles are typically associated with black women, I didn’t feel the need to include any additional qualifiers before the word “woman”.

Prompt: “woman with cornrows”

They did ok with cornrows. I was looking for more of the Queen Latifah in “Set It Off” type of cornrows.

But I accepted this. But, is seems that Midjourney associates cornrows with rural environments again.

Prompt: “woman with braids”

The “braids” prompt wasn’t much different from the “cornrows” prompt. But, their edges were laid. So, that’s a plus.

Prompt: “woman with dreads”

The default “dreadlocks” prompt was kind of ridiculous. But, they all did have dreads. But, the background images didn’t provide any insight into where these women may originate from.

But, I started thinking, maybe the term “dreadlocks” threw Midjourney off. We know that dreadlocks are often associated with the Rastafarian religion. So, maybe I should just try “woman with locks”. That should work right?

Prompt: “woman with locks”

I could have tried “Black woman with locks”, but I think we get the point.

My final prompt was something that was distinctively and unequivocally Black… The Afro. Midjourney CAN’T mess that one up, right?

Prompt: “woman with afro”

I mean… I guess. They are “afro-ish”… I was aiming more for the Angela Davis afro.

To me, this was an extended version of the “curly Black girl hair”. So, I refined my prompt to “woman with 70’s era afro” and I got more ZaZie Beetz.

Discover the power of being specific

This exercise was fun and I’m eager to explore more. I want to emphasize the importance of clarity in defining your desired outcomes. This tool proves invaluable for those of us lacking in “real” artistic creativity. However, refining your prompts requires dedicated effort. With the right approach, you can find a multitude of Black women perfectly suited to your needs. Below I have a few examples that I’ve been able to create. Stay resolute and watch the magic unfold.