- Snapchat’s new Imagine Lens uses AI to produce an image from any prompt
- The feature blends generative AI with Snap’s real-time camera interface
- The Lens is only available to Snapchat+ Platinum and Lens+ subscribers for now
Snapchat has been offering AI-powered Lenses for pre-programmed filters for a while, but its newest feature lets you write out any prompt you want. The new Imagine Lens will alter your photos based on what you type, no matter how specific. You could take a selfie and ask it to “turn me into a four-panel comic where I become a jellyfish superhero,” and see that comic appear.
Only available for Snapchat+ Platinum and Lens+ subscribers on iOS, Imagine Lens is the app’s first open-prompt AI image generator built into the Lens Carousel. Unlike Snapchat’s existing generative Lenses, which offer fun but fixed effects, this one actually listens to what you type. The resulting image can then be posted to your Story, saved to your camera roll, or shared with your friends. Unlike those existing Lenses, you won’t be able to make a video or see the overlay ahead of time, but Snap seems confident people will like the final result.
There are plenty of AI image generators and editors, but the Imagine Lens does stand out for its speed and for being streamlined by being part of the Snapchat app. You just open the camera, swipe over to the Imagine Lens, and start typing into the caption bar. You can also use one of Snapchat’s prewritten prompt suggestions, such as “make this person into a comic strip,” “turn me into a Renaissance statue,” or “make this a goofy caricature.”
Selfie imagination
The Imagine Lens is in some ways the current height of Snapchat’s efforts to combine AI with augmented reality as part of its brand. This year, Snap launched its first video-based AI Lenses and rolled out a standalone Lens Studio app and web portal. The idea was to make it easier for amateur creators to build AR filters from scratch. Imagine Lens just extends that idea in a limited manner to every user (who pays to subscribe).
There’s clearly demand for it, and Snap doesn’t want to be left behind as TikTok grows its suite of AI effects and filters, not to mention the similar experiments carried out by Google, Meta, Apple[1], and other major brands.
How well the Imagine Lens performs for a larger user base remains to be seen. AI image tools can be fuzzy in their logic when interpreting a prompt. Still, it’s easy to see how people who use Snapchat might be keen to get their hands on Imagine, and how it might even entice people to pay for the privilege.
Snap will need to push for ways to stand out, though, as the idea for making fun visual moments instantly from a written prompt becomes ubiquitous. Imagine that.