CivitAI

Like Hugging Face, CivitAI is a collaborative hub for AI development. But unlike Hugging Face which supports a large range of applications, CivitAI is dedicated to image generation only. The platform attracts a huge number of enthusiasts and amateurs. In contrast to the rather severe interface and atmosphere of Hugging Face (that looks more like GitHub), the platform resembles art platforms such as DevianArt where users display their portfolios. With its labyrinth of image galleries, it celebrates the capabilities of generative AI to clone every style and cross every genre from cartoon to oil painting and fashion photography to extreme pornography as if the users were on a mission to exhaust pixel space.

But the platform attracts more than image makers. Many Civitans also upload custom-made models, LoRAs, VAEs, highly detailed tutorials. A large population of anime fans is responsible for an endless list of models that specialize on a given manga character as well as many versions of the infamous PONY models that started as a project to generate better images of the characters of My Little Pony and that has evolved in a complex constellation of models able to produce reliable body poses. This makes CivitAI a bridge between fans and computer geeks (who are sometimes both).