I tried the controversial internet tool that lets anyone create AI-generated art for free &mdash; here's how to use DALL-E

You can make an account on DALL-E like on any other website by using an email and making a password. When you're in, the homepage has a search bar to start creating. Below the search bar are examples of art DALL·E has made, including the search term that lead to the image.

The details you can search for are seemingly limitless, including the style of art or artist you want the AI-image to resemble. For this search, I specified that I wanted the image to be "digital art."

The first search I did on DALL-E was of cats eating soup. One of my favorite paintings is "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, so I searched for this image and added, "in the style of Gustav Klimt." This image was the best of the four that DALL-E gave me, but none of the images really resembled "The Kiss."

I did another search with a different artist in mind. For this image, I searched for "van Gogh style painting of Formula 1 car driving on Mars." Compared to what DALL-E gave me for Klimt, I thought this image more closely resembled a Vincent van Gogh painting.

My favorite result from my searches on DALL-E were these images of "extraterrestrial School of Athens by Raphael."

Here's a closer look at my favorite of that batch. I didn't have any real expectations for this search, so I was excited to see how DALL-E would interpret it. I liked this one the best because DALL-E added more landscape to this "generation" to suggest it was in a different world.

Each detail in your search will influence how DALL-E will create your image. For example, I used the same search term for two photos. For this one, I searched, "a bright painting of a girl walking over a bridge into a waterfall that opens into another dimension..."

...then "a dark painting of a girl walking over a bridge into a waterfall that opens into another dimension." Both sets of images came out very different depending on whether I put "bright" or "dark."

When your search isn't very specific, the "generations" can really vary in style. For example, I only searched for "Astronaut cowboys at a rodeo in outer space." Here's one generation:

And another one in a different style:

You can also edit a "generation" on DALL-E by using one of your credits. Edit options include erasing part of the "generation," adding a frame, or uploading another image to add to the "generation."

You can check your collection by clicking "My collection" at the top of the DALL-E homepage. You can also check how many credits you have for the month by clicking on your user profile in the top right corner.

Screenshot of how to check your DALL·E collection and creditsDALL·E/OpenAI

When you open an account to use DALL-E, you get 50 credits for the first month. Each credit is used for one DALL-E search, one edit request, or a variation request. You get 15 credits for each month after the first month, but the 50 free credits don't roll over after the first month. You can also buy more credits.

You can check your collection by clicking "My collection" at the top of the DALL-E homepage. You can also check how many credits you have for the month by clicking on your user profile in the top right corner.

When you open an account to use DALL-E, you get 50 credits for the first month. Each credit is used for one DALL-E search, one edit request, or a variation request. You get 15 credits for each month after the first month, but the 50 free credits don't roll over after the first month. You can also buy more credits.

Here are some other examples of "generations" I made using DALL-E, like this "digital art" of one of my favorite dishes, pho.

And this one, "an illustration of baby ducks wearing rain boots eating tacos" inspired by my friend who asked me to search for ducks.

I was clearly feeling the outer space theme, so I searched for, "light saber battle in Ancient Rome"

According to OpenAI's terms of use, images you create with DALL-E can be used for any legal purpose, even commercial use. That means you can sell the rights to the images, and use them in books, websites, and presentations.

OpenAI's content policy for DALL·E includes not creating, uploading, or sharing images that depict hate, violence, self-harm, illegal activity, or anything political.

OpenAI encourages DALL·E users to be transparent about the use of AI in the creation of their images.

I tried the controversial internet tool that lets anyone create AI-generated art for free &mdash; here's how to use DALL-E

You can make an account on DALL-E like on any other website by using an email and making a password. When you're in, the homepage has a search bar to start creating. Below the search bar are examples of art DALL·E has made, including the search term that lead to the image.

The details you can search for are seemingly limitless, including the style of art or artist you want the AI-image to resemble. For this search, I specified that I wanted the image to be "digital art."

The first search I did on DALL-E was of cats eating soup. One of my favorite paintings is "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, so I searched for this image and added, "in the style of Gustav Klimt." This image was the best of the four that DALL-E gave me, but none of the images really resembled "The Kiss."

I did another search with a different artist in mind. For this image, I searched for "van Gogh style painting of Formula 1 car driving on Mars." Compared to what DALL-E gave me for Klimt, I thought this image more closely resembled a Vincent van Gogh painting.

My favorite result from my searches on DALL-E were these images of "extraterrestrial School of Athens by Raphael."

Here's a closer look at my favorite of that batch. I didn't have any real expectations for this search, so I was excited to see how DALL-E would interpret it. I liked this one the best because DALL-E added more landscape to this "generation" to suggest it was in a different world.

Each detail in your search will influence how DALL-E will create your image. For example, I used the same search term for two photos. For this one, I searched, "a bright painting of a girl walking over a bridge into a waterfall that opens into another dimension..."

...then "a dark painting of a girl walking over a bridge into a waterfall that opens into another dimension." Both sets of images came out very different depending on whether I put "bright" or "dark."

When your search isn't very specific, the "generations" can really vary in style. For example, I only searched for "Astronaut cowboys at a rodeo in outer space." Here's one generation:

And another one in a different style:

You can also edit a "generation" on DALL-E by using one of your credits. Edit options include erasing part of the "generation," adding a frame, or uploading another image to add to the "generation."

You can check your collection by clicking "My collection" at the top of the DALL-E homepage. You can also check how many credits you have for the month by clicking on your user profile in the top right corner.

Here are some other examples of "generations" I made using DALL-E, like this "digital art" of one of my favorite dishes, pho.

And this one, "an illustration of baby ducks wearing rain boots eating tacos" inspired by my friend who asked me to search for ducks.

I was clearly feeling the outer space theme, so I searched for, "light saber battle in Ancient Rome"

According to OpenAI's terms of use, images you create with DALL-E can be used for any legal purpose, even commercial use. That means you can sell the rights to the images, and use them in books, websites, and presentations.

OpenAI's content policy for DALL·E includes not creating, uploading, or sharing images that depict hate, violence, self-harm, illegal activity, or anything political.

OpenAI encourages DALL·E users to be transparent about the use of AI in the creation of their images.

I tried the controversial internet tool that lets anyone create AI-generated art for free — here's how to use DALL-E