ChatGPT upgrades its image model—and it actually listens to you now

(Image credit: Getty Images/ Cheng Xin)

OpenAI has launched a faster, smarter image model called GPT Image 1.5 inside ChatGPT
The new tool allows users to make detailed, accurate edits to photos and create custom visuals from prompts
The new Images tab adds presets and filters without the need for written prompts

OpenAI has upgraded and enhanced the AI image generation capabilities of ChatGPT. The improvement comes not long after the release of the ChatGPT-5.2 model for everything else offered by the AI chatbot. The new GPT Image 1.5 model is up to four times faster than its predecessor and is built to be better at editing and more reliable at following instructions.

In its announcement, OpenAI pitched the new ChatGPT Images as a serious creative tool, with professional-level results. With all the caveats about the limits of AI image generators, it is a bit like a slightly flawed but high-powered visual production studio with someone running it who understands regular language, so you don't have to mess with sliders and layers.

The new model comes with some changes to ChatGPT, too. There’s now a dedicated "Images" tab inside ChatGPT that serves as a hub for making images, with pre-built filters and curated options based on current trends. There are also templates that let you generate or edit images without even typing a prompt. You can click “retro magazine layout” or “futuristic food styling” and see how it looks without having to work out the best phrasing for a prompt, part of OpenAI's efforts to make the tool as accessible as possible.

ChatGPT Images - YouTube

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There are a lot of other subtle improvements to the new model as well. It can produce denser text without devolving into nonsense, show a crowd of small faces without producing too many oddballs, and it can keep track of elements across multiple edits, so you can change one aspect of an image without the AI deciding to mess with other bits. Past models were easily confused by chain edits or overlapping instructions.

The upgrade also makes for better combining and transforming of images. You can ask it to blend styles, move an aspect of one image to another, or remove everything except a single component and move it into a new setting. You also don't have to worry so much about the space between people or objects getting confused.

AI image enhancement

Still, it’s not perfect. Some outputs miss the mark. Occasionally, the model will misinterpret a phrase or render something too literally. But the difference now is that those moments feel like exceptions rather than the norm. Or at least that's what OpenAI claims.

There's more to it than just what you can do with OpenAI's model. Adobe recently revealed that it is embedding Photoshop and Acrobat into ChatGPT. That means we’re approaching a future where multiple editing platforms live side by side. You might prompt ChatGPT to design a poster, then click over to Photoshop to refine it, without ever leaving the same window.

ChatGPT doesn't lack for AI image competition from the likes of Google Gemini and Midjourney, but the casual access to ChatGPT Images means you might turn to it for producing things like an improved LinkedIn headshot before you specifically open Midjourney.

The most positive interpretation of the upgraded ChatGPT Images is that another level of high-quality visual creativity is no longer gated by technical skill or expensive software. But that comes with all of the caveats and uncertainties about how much of what ChatGPT produces is simply remixed content scraped without consent from human artists, not to mention how much its use takes away opportunities for professionals in the field. As much fun and as impressive as the results can be, it still means that users have to decide what exactly it means to “make” something in the first place.

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.

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