In 2023 I did a series of posts where I tested AI image generators to see how they would handle making maze art. I asked 10 prompts and evaluated different AI image sites against each other to see how they perform. It didn’t go as well I would have hoped, but I learned a lot. Here are the 2 main posts that summarize the project:
Can AI Generate Mazes? We Tested 12 AI Art Generators to Find Out
What I learned using AI to make maze art
So I wanted to give a few of the sites another chance. Things move quickly in AI and maybe the updates have made them better at making mazes ? So today I re-do the same 10 prompts from April 2023 and see what Canva comes up with 18 months later. Let’s get started !
Making Maze Art with Canva
You can access the Canva website here. You must create an account and sign-in to use the website. Each prompt, or generation will generate 4 images. In 2023 there were 6 styles to choose from: Concept Art, Photo, Painting, Drawing, 3D, and Pattern; Today there are 25 split into 3 sections: Photography. Digital Art and Fine Art. So you have more choices and can use more styles (thank you Canva !).
Prompt 1 - Make a medium difficulty maze of the Eiffel Tower in black and white with arrows at the start and finish
So we have 2023 on the left and 2024 on the right. Every time I look at this I see the batman symbol in the sky. So 2024 actually includes a maze-like design. Both have the Eiffel Tower in black and white. I see an improvement.
Prompt 2 - Draw a medium difficulty large maze of the Empire State Building with the start and goal embedded in the structure
In 2023 we got 2 Empire State Buildings beside each other in black and white with colored pencils on the right side because ? I still am not sure why. 2024: A walled NYC with the Empire State Building at the center surrounded by maze looking walls in the streets. We know who won this one,
Prompt 3 - Draw a difficult maze of the White House pixel art style
2023: No maze, but sweet pixelated White House (or at least a portion of it). 2024: Well at least we have a maze. Oddly the tan maze walls are also mixed along a hedge maze ? So we have 2 mazes ? The White House looks more like a capitol building with the dome. Pixels. No. I give this a push.
Prompt 4 - Draw a difficult maze that looks like a drawing of a famous building in sketch style
The 2023 building looks like a very large building that is full of many impressive books, but I am not sure what building it actually is. 2024 it seems that Canva had a memory and went with the Eiffel Tower again…and did a very interesting version of it ! 2024 punches 2023 in the face.
Prompt 5 - Draw a maze in the style of doyoumaze.com of a skyscraper in NYC
I like both of these. 2023 must be a person looking up from the street at a skyscraper. 2024 decided one skyscraper was not enough. It needed 24 packed tightly together. Both images use blocks instead of maze walls.
Prompt 6 - Draw a maze in the style of Sean C Jackson of a scene from a large outdoor market
2023: You can only buy food at this market if you can get out of the maze. 2024: We have a very busy flea market divided by maze walls. Neither are in the correct style but I prefer the 2024 version.
Prompt 7 - Make a maze of a slice of an orange in color
Slices of oranges embedded in the grass ? Orange walls with white tops ?
Prompt 8 - Make a maze integrated on top of a photograph of a king sitting on his throne looking cantankerous beside his beautiful queen
2024 wins this even though the queen appears to have cut off her leg at the ankle and stitched it to the throne. It still wins because 2023 did not come close to following the prompt.
Prompt 9 - Make a solvable maze that is very large and very difficult to solve because it is so complex
Neither is actually a maze. Push
Prompt 10 - Make a 3d render of a red and blue glossy cube maze
Interesting that these are very similar.
How did Canva do 18 months later ?
Canva has improved, but still can’t generate a real maze. It seemed to follow the prompts more closely and continued to generate interesting outputs even when they weren’t exactly what I wanted. I thought the generations improved in quality.
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