Image Battle

Summary for Ultra Hard

The Ultra Hard category lived up to its name, serving as a brutal stress test for modern AI models. While many models excel at standard photorealism, this dataset revealed significant gaps in logical reasoning and spatial intelligence.

Key Findings

• Logic is the new frontier: The prompt A realistic astronaut being ridden by a horse caused a massive failure rate. Most models ignored the syntax and defaulted to the common trope of a human riding a horse. Only a select few, like Nano Banana Pro and Flux 2 Pro, successfully reversed the roles.
• Text is solving itself: Models like GPT Image 1.5 and Ideogram 3.0 (Quality) are now handling complex text integration (handwriting on cardboard, chalkboards) with near-perfect accuracy.
• Anatomy remains tricky: The ASL 'thank you' gesture stumped almost everyone, with models confusing it for "thinking" poses or the "OK" sign. Nano Banana Pro and ChatGPT 4o were rare successes here.

Top Performers

• 🏆 GPT Image 1.5: Demonstrated the highest consistency across logic, text, and texture.
• 🥈 Nano Banana Pro: Showed surprising ingenuity in interpreting difficult logical prompts.
• 🥉 ChatGPT 4o: Excellent at stylistic mimicry (SimCity) and general adherence.

Deep Dive: Breaking the Models

This dataset highlighted three distinct "intelligence gaps" in current image generation technology.

1. The "Training Data Inertia" Problem

Models struggle to generate images that contradict their training frequency.

• The Test: A realistic astronaut being ridden by a horse.
• The Result: Models like DALL-E 3, Midjourney V6.1, and Recraft V3 failed completely, generating an astronaut riding a horse. They prioritized the statistical correlation of "riding" over the grammatical structure of the prompt.
• The Exception: Nano Banana Pro not only followed the prompt but creatively solved the physics by putting the horse in a space suit, earning a high realism score.

2. The Style Transfer Trap

When asked to make a cartoon character "photorealistic as a real human," most models fail to abandon the cartoon's color palette.

• The Test: Homer Simpson photorealistic.
• The Result: Most models (e.g., Flux 1.1 Pro Ultra, Ideogram V2) simply created a high-res 3D render of a yellow character.
• The Exception: Nano Banana Pro successfully translated the character into human skin tones while keeping the features recognizable.

3. Text & Interface Accuracy

Generating UI elements and specific text styles remains a hurdle.

• The Test: Pixel art cityscape... SimCity 2000 style.
• The Result: Many models ignored the "UI elements" instruction or generated gibberish text.
• The Exception: ChatGPT 4o and GPT Image 1.5 generated perfect replicas of the game interface, including legible menu text.

Model Recommendations by Scenario

Based on the performance in the Ultra Hard category, here are the best models for specific high-difficulty tasks:

🧠 Best for Complex Logic & Reasoning

Winner: GPT Image 1.5

• Why: It actually "reads" the prompt. Whether it's a robot painting a self-portrait or a horse riding a human, this model adheres to the sentence structure rather than just keywords.
• Alternative: Nano Banana Pro (Excellent at interpreting physical interactions in absurd scenarios).

✍️ Best for Text Integration

Winner: Ideogram 3.0 (Quality)

• Why: consistently handles chalkboard equations and cardboard signs without spelling errors.
• See: OpenAI-branded T-shirt for clear text handling.

🎨 Best for Stylized & Retro Art

Winner: ChatGPT 4o

• Why: It nailed the SimCity 2000 prompt, perfectly replicating the pixel art style, isometric view, and specific UI layout where others failed.

📷 Best for High-Fidelity Photorealism

Winner: Recraft V3

• Why: While it struggled with logic, its texture work on the Edge of the Earth prompt was rated a perfect 10 for looking like a genuine ISS photograph.
• Alternative: Reve Image (Halfmoon) also scored highly on texture-heavy prompts like the Singapore Hawker.