Artificial intelligence (AI) apps are changing how art is made. Dream by Wombo, winner of Google Play’s Best App of 2022, empowers everyone – even those without any formal art training – to create fantastic designs using just their imagination and a few text prompts.

We chatted with its founder and CEO, Ben-Zion Benkhin, about the app’s origins and why AI-generated art is so appealing.

Ben-Zion Benkhin: Images are an important medium for digital communication, but creating or finding the right one can be a chore. Dream by Wombo allows anyone to make the exact image they need for whatever they are trying to make in seconds. All you need is an idea and the AI will provide the artistic talent.

I've been active in the AI space since deep learning first caught the public’s attention. Being in Toronto, I had access to the world's leading AI researchers, and I was constantly amazed by the rapid advances in this technology. When I saw the early examples of what text-to-image AI could do, I knew it would be a hit. I worked with my team to quickly create Dream, the first easy-to-use text-to-image mobile app.

It's to bring the magic of AI to everyone so they can unleash their creativity. We are constantly searching for the latest AI models that can be used for entertainment. Then, we optimize them so they work well on anyone's personal device and package them up into fun and simple products. Consumer entertainment is in our DNA, and our traction has proven that if you make AI easy, everyone wants to use it.

It is an honor to be awarded Best App of 2022, and it validates our approach to focus on experience design above all. We are a small, scrappy team, so to be able to accomplish such a big feat really means a lot as we continue to add to the delight we bring our users.

The barriers to building something fun and usable keep falling. All you really need is an idea you believe in and the conviction to see it through.