If you thought AI-generated images were already everywhere, hold onto your hats: the real surge is just beginning!

OpenAI has just unleashed its Image Generation API, giving developers unprecedented access to DALL·E 3. This powerful tool comes packed with features like smart inpainting and automated safety filtering, enabling the rapid creation and customization of stunning images on a massive scale.

But that’s not all! Industry giants are jumping on the AI bandwagon. Adobe is integrating OpenAI’s technology into its Firefly and Express apps, while Figma is supercharging its platform with state-of-the-art image generation and editing capabilities. Airtable is streamlining asset management for enterprises, and platforms like Gamma are cranking out over 5 million AI images daily for presentations and websites. Even avatar creators like HeyGen and companies like OpusClip, Quora, Wix, Photoroom, and Playground are leveraging OpenAI’s image prowess.

This isn’t just a fleeting trend; it marks a fundamental shift in production workflows, complete with a distinct cost structure: $10 per million input tokens and $40 per million output tokens. In simpler terms, you’re looking at a cost of about $0.01 for low-quality, $0.04 for medium-quality, and $0.17 for high-quality square images. While the outputs may not be ideal for every project, they’re poised to outperform traditional production methods where applicable.

In just a few months, we could be living in a world where virtually every image in media, marketing, eCommerce, and presentations may very well be AI-generated. The ramifications—politically, culturally, economically, and creatively—could be profound.

And let’s not forget: still images are just the tip of the iceberg. With the imminent arrival of video generation APIs, the transformational wave of AI will reshape industries in ways we can’t even imagine.