How does generative AI create images from text?

Generative AI turns text into images by following a recipe, just like you follow a recipe to make cookies.

Imagine you have a special kind of chef, generative AI, who loves making pictures. All they need is a note that says something like "a cat wearing sunglasses on a beach". The chef uses this note to imagine what the picture should look like.

First, the chef looks at many examples of images and their descriptions. This helps them learn the connection between words and pictures, like learning how flour and sugar make cookies.

Then, when given a new description, the chef uses all that knowledge to create an image from scratch, just like mixing ingredients in a bowl and baking them into a cookie.

It’s not magic, it's practice, imagination, and a little bit of smart math.