mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Generated Faces in the Wild: Quantitative Comparison of Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and DALL-E 2

arXiv 2210.00586 ↗First posted 2 Oct 2022cs.CVcited by 55

On the map: Diffusion models → Diffusion foundations and sampling

Abstract (arXiv)

The field of image synthesis has made great strides in the last couple of years. Recent models are capable of generating images with astonishing quality. Fine-grained evaluation of these models on some interesting categories such as faces is still missing. Here, we conduct a quantitative comparison of three popular systems including Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E 2 in their ability to generate photorealistic faces in the wild. We find that Stable Diffusion generates better faces than the other systems, according to the FID score. We also introduce a dataset of generated faces in the wild dubbed GFW, including a total of 15,076 faces. Furthermore, we hope that our study spurs follow-up research in assessing the generative models and improving them. Data and code are available at data and code, respectively.

Key facts. Cited by 55 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Diffusion foundations and sampling, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 11 of its 14 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 2 Oct 2022.

Builds on

11 of 14 references.

Closest ancestors · 1

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models20 Dec

Other references · 10

  1. 2018The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metriccited by 11,029
  2. 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latentscited by 6,539
  3. 2022Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 5,603
  4. 2013Auto-Encoding Variational Bayescited by 3,980
  5. 2019Analyzing and Improving the Image Quality of StyleGANcited by 3,580
  6. 2018Pros and Cons of GAN Evaluation Measurescited by 224
  7. 2019Seeing What a GAN Cannot Generatecited by 148
  8. 2021Pros and Cons of GAN Evaluation Measures: New Developmentscited by 121
  9. 2018Bias and Generalization in Deep Generative Models: An Empirical Studycited by 83
  10. 2022A very preliminary analysis of DALL-E 2cited by 82

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2022: 4; 2023: 20; 2024: 15; 2025: 14; 2026: 2.

55 papers.

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  1. 2022DiffusionDB: A Large-scale Prompt Gallery Dataset for Text-to-Image Generative Modelscited by 376
  2. 2023AGIQA-3K: An Open Database for AI-Generated Image Quality Assessmentcited by 142
  3. 2023What You See is What You Read? Improving Text-Image Alignment Evaluationcited by 105
  4. 2024Unlearning Concepts in Diffusion Model via Concept Domain Correction and Concept Preserving Gradientcited by 69
  5. 2022Efficient Diffusion Models for Vision: A Surveycited by 50
  6. 2023Combining Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet: Heading towards Evolution or Degradation?cited by 41
  7. 2024Diffusion Facial Forgery Detectioncited by 41
  8. 2023LogGPT: Exploring ChatGPT for Log-Based Anomaly Detectioncited by 33
  9. 2023Qualitative Failures of Image Generation Models and Their Application in Detecting Deepfakescited by 31
  10. 2023WEDGE: A multi-weather autonomous driving dataset built from generative vision-language modelscited by 28
  11. 2023WizMap: Scalable Interactive Visualization for Exploring Large Machine Learning Embeddingscited by 28
  12. 2025A Survey of Zero-Knowledge Proof Based Verifiable Machine Learningcited by 21
38 more
  1. 2025ADVEDM:Fine-grained Adversarial Attack against VLM-based Embodied Agentscited by 19
  2. 2024Second-Order Information Matters: Revisiting Machine Unlearning for Large Language Modelscited by 17
  3. 2023FACTIFY3M: A Benchmark for Multimodal Fact Verification with Explainability through 5W Question-Answeringcited by 15
  4. 2024Moderator: Moderating Text-to-Image Diffusion Models through Fine-grained Context-based Policiescited by 15
  5. 2025REALEDIT: Reddit Edits As a Large-scale Empirical Dataset for Image Transformationscited by 15
  6. 2024Rocks Coding, Not Development--A Human-Centric, Experimental Evaluation of LLM-Supported SE Taskscited by 13
  7. 2022AI Art in Architecturecited by 12
  8. 2024GenFace: A Large-Scale Fine-Grained Face Forgery Benchmark and Cross Appearance-Edge Learningcited by 12
  9. 2023Using Diffusion Models to Generate Synthetic Labelled Data for Medical Image Segmentationcited by 10
  10. 2024Adaptive Mixed-Scale Feature Fusion Network for Blind AI-Generated Image Quality Assessmentcited by 10
  11. 2022Evaluating a Synthetic Image Dataset Generated with Stable Diffusioncited by 9
  12. 2024Analyzing Quality, Bias, and Performance in Text-to-Image Generative Modelscited by 9
  13. 2023Scamming the Scammers: Using ChatGPT to Reply Mails for Wasting Time and Resourcescited by 8
  14. 2024Stylebreeder: Exploring and Democratizing Artistic Styles through Text-to-Image Modelscited by 7
  15. 2024From Paper to Card: Transforming Design Implications with Generative AIcited by 6
  16. 2023Grimm in Wonderland: Prompt Engineering with Midjourney to Illustrate Fairytalescited by 4
  17. 2025SFLD: Reducing the content bias for AI-generated Image Detectioncited by 4
  18. 2024A Misleading Gallery of Fluid Motion by Generative Artificial Intelligencecited by 3
  19. 2025AMCR: A Framework for Assessing and Mitigating Copyright Risks in Generative Modelscited by 3
  20. 2024Exploring Gen-AI applications in building research and industry: A reviewcited by 2
  21. 2025Distributional Statistics Restore Training Data Auditability in One-step Distilled Diffusion Modelscited by 2
  22. 2023A Pilot Evaluation of ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 on Decision Making and Spatial Reasoningcited by 1
  23. 2023Face Recognition Using Synthetic Face Datacited by 1
  24. 2023Pulse shape discrimination based on the Tempotron: a powerful classifier on GPUcited by 1
  25. 2024DiffDesign: Controllable Diffusion with Meta Prior for Efficient Interior Design Generationcited by 1
  26. 2025Text-to-Image Generation for Vocabulary Learning Using the Keyword Methodcited by 1
  27. 2025Computationally Efficient Diffusion Models in Medical Imaging: A Comprehensive Reviewcited by 1
  28. 2025EdgeDoc: Hybrid CNN-Transformer Model for Accurate Forgery Detection and Localization in ID Documentscited by 1
  29. 2025Towards Real-World Deepfake Detection: A Diverse In-the-wild Dataset of Forgery Facescited by 1
  30. 2023Accuracy and Fidelity Comparison of Luna and DALL-E 2 Diffusion-Based Image Generation Systemscited by 0
  31. 2023Text Semantics to Image Generation: A method of building facades design base on Stable Diffusion modelcited by 0
  32. 2023Investigation of ensemble methods for the detection of deepfake face manipulationscited by 0
  33. 2023Augmenting Character Designers Creativity Using Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 0
  34. 2023FLORIDA: Fake-looking Real Images Datasetcited by 0
  35. 2023On the notion of Hallucinations from the lens of Bias and Validity in Synthetic CXR Imagescited by 0
  36. 2024Qualitative and quantitative analysis of student's perceptions in the use of generative AI in educational environmentscited by 0
  37. 2024Novel AI Camera Camouflage: Face Cloaking Without Full Disguisecited by 0
  38. 2025AnyArtisticGlyph: Multilingual Controllable Artistic Glyph Generationcited by 0

50 most cited of 55 All 55 (JSON)

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  1. 2023State of the Art on Diffusion Models for Visual Computing
  2. 2024DiffuseHigh: Training-free Progressive High-Resolution Image Synthesis through Structure Guidance
  3. 2024Efficient Diffusion Models: A Comprehensive Survey from Principles to Practices
  4. 2025One-shot Face Sketch Synthesis in the Wild via Generative Diffusion Prior and Instruction Tuning
  5. 2024Conditional Image Synthesis with Diffusion Models: A Survey
  6. 2024Diffusion Models in Low-Level Vision: A Survey
  7. 2023A Survey of Diffusion Based Image Generation Models: Issues and Their Solutions
  8. 2023Limitations of Face Image Generation