Image generation using generative AI is rapidly becoming a major new source of visual media, with billions of AI generated images created using diffusion models such as Stable Diffusion and Midjourney over the last few years. In this paper we collect and analyse over 3 million prompts and the images they generate. Using natural language processing, topic analysis and visualisation methods we aim to understand collectively how people are using text prompts, the impact of these systems on artists, and more broadly on the visual cultures they promote. Our study shows that prompting focuses largely on surface aesthetics, reinforcing cultural norms, popular conventional representations and imagery. We also find that many users focus on popular topics (such as making colouring books, fantasy art, or Christmas cards), suggesting that the dominant use for the systems analysed is recreational rather than artistic.

翻译：使用生成式AI进行图像生成正迅速成为视觉媒体的主要新来源，过去几年中，借助Stable Diffusion和Midjourney等扩散模型，已创作出数十亿张AI生成图像。本文收集并分析了超过300万个提示词及其生成的图像。通过自然语言处理、主题分析和可视化方法，我们旨在整体理解人们如何使用文本提示词、这些系统对艺术家的影响，以及更广泛地，它们所推广的视觉文化。我们的研究表明，提示词主要聚焦于表面美学，强化了文化规范、流行的传统表现手法和意象。我们还发现，许多用户专注于热门主题（如制作涂色书、幻想艺术或圣诞贺卡），这表明所分析系统的主要用途是娱乐性的，而非艺术性的。