Frontier Models Generate Stunning Visuals but Fail at Simple Edits

anshulkundaje · x · 2026-08-02

Stanford professor Anshul Kundaje found that while frontier models like GPT can generate phenomenal figures from complex text descriptions, they perform poorly on subsequent precise modifications.

Users pointed out a common pain point: models cannot tweak existing images based on instructions (like simply flipping an arrow) nor convert them into editable formats like SVG or PPT. This exposes significant shortcomings in current image understanding and controllable generation.

Related event: Frontier AI Models Excel at Image Generation but Fail at Precise Edits(2 posts)→

Original post →

More from Models

Models channel →