Generative AI is one of the latest famous technologies with the capability of realistic images, textual and auditory content in a matter of minutes. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 10% of all generated data will be produced by generative AI.1
A Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is a type of generative AI model that utilizes two neural networks in a unique and adversarial way to generate new data that resembles the training data.
Some highly technical use cases, such as modeling probabilistic distributions or sampling from an arbitrary distribution, may be better suited for other types of generative AI models like Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) or Generative Stochastic Networks (GSNs).
However, most of the popular generative AI applications under use are performed by GAN. In this article, we will explain 10 GAN use cases.
Top 10 GAN Use Cases
1- Image generation
Generative adversarial networks allow users to generate photorealistic images based on specific text descriptions (see Figure 1), such as:
- Setting
- Subject
- Style
- Location.
This process can be tested with various adversarial inputs to see how robust the image generation is against slight perturbations in the input.
Figure 1: Generated image of “a running avocado in the style of Magritte”
Source: DALL-E
2- Image to image translation
GAN creates fake images from input images by transforming the external features, such as its color, medium, or form, while preserving its internal components (see Figure 2). This can be used as a general image editing method. Understanding how GANs handle adversarial inputs in image translation is crucial for maintaining the integrity and quality of the output.
Figure 2: An example of facial attribute manipulation
Source: “FAE-GAN: facial attribute editing with multi-scale attention normalization”2
3- Semantic image to photo translation
It is possible to generate images based on a semantic image or sketch by using generative adversarial networks (see Figure 3). This capability has a range of practical applications, particularly in the healthcare sector where it can aid in making diagnoses.
Figure 3. An example of semantic image to photo translation.
Source: “Generating Synthetic Space Allocation Probability Layouts Based on Trained Conditional-GANs”3
4- Super resolution
GANs can improve video and image quality (see Figure 4). It restores old images and movies by upgrading them to 4K resolution or higher, generating 60 frames per second rather than 23 or less, removing noise, and adding color.
Figure 4: GAN-based restoration of images.
Source: “Towards Real-World Blind Face Restoration With Generative Facial Prior”4
5- Video prediction
A video prediction system with generative adversarial networks is able to:
- understand the temporal and spatial elements of a video
- generate the next sequence based on that understanding (as shown in the Figure 5)
- differentiate between probable and non-probable sequences
Figure 5. Prediction results for an action test split. a: Input, b: Ground Truth, c: FutureGAN.
Source: “FutureGAN: Anticipating the Future Frames of Video Sequences Using Spatio-Temporal 3D Convolutions in Progressively Growing GANs”5
6- Text-to-speech conversion
Generative adversarial networks facilitate the generation of lifelike speech sounds. The discriminators act as trainers that refine the voice by emphasizing, adjusting, and modifying the tone.
Text-to-speech conversion technology has various commercial applications, including:
- Education
- Marketing
- Podcasting
- Advertising
For instance, an educator can turn their lecture notes into audio format to make them more engaging, and this same approach can be used to create educational resources for those with visual impairments.
7- Style transfer
GANs can be used to transfer style from one image to another, such as generating a painting in the style of Vincent van Gogh from a photograph of a landscape (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. The cycleGAN generates designs in the style of different artists and artistic genres, such as Monet, van Gogh, Cezanne and Ukiyo-e.
Source: “Unpaired image-to-image translation using cycle-consistent adversarial networks”6
8- 3D object generation
GAN-based shape generation allows for the creation of shapes that more closely resemble the original source. Also, it is possible to generate and modify detailed shapes to achieve the desired result. See the GANs-generated 3D objects in Figure 7 below.
Figure 7. Shapes synthesized by 3D-GAN.
Source: ”Learning a Probabilistic Latent Space of Object Shapes via 3D Generative-Adversarial Modeling”7
The video below shows this process of object generation.
9- Video generation
GANs can be used to generate videos, such as synthesizing new scenes in a movie or generating new advertisements. However, such GAN-generated content, called deepfakes, can be difficult or impossible to distinguish from real media, posing serious generative AI ethics implications (see the video below).
10- Text generation
With the large language models, generative AI based on GAN model has a range of applications in text generation, including:
- Articles
- Blog posts
- Product descriptions
These AI-generated texts can be used for a variety of purposes, such as:
- Social media content
- Advertising
- Research
- Communication.
In addition, it can be used to summarize written content, making it a useful tool for quickly digesting and synthesizing large amounts of information.
GAN tools
Here are some examples for GAN tools listed by GAN use cases:
GANs’ architecture
GANs operate on a two-model architecture locked in a continuous competition: the generator and the discriminator.
- Generator (The Forger): This neural network creates new data (e.g., images, text, audio) from random noise, aiming to produce content indistinguishable from real-world data.
- Discriminator (The Detective): This is a binary classifier network that examines a sample and decides if it is real(from the original dataset) or fake (produced by the Generator).
The training process
The two models are trained simultaneously in a minimax game. The generator tries to minimize the discriminator’s ability to spot fakes, while the discriminator tries to maximize its accuracy.
This adversarial process forces the Generator to continuously improve its output quality until the discriminator can only guess with 50% accuracy, meaning the generated content is highly realistic.
GAN limitations and ethical implications
While powerful, GANs have critical drawbacks and ethical considerations:
Technical limitations
- Training instability: GANs can be challenging to train and configure since they often fail to converge. A common issue is vanishing gradients, where one model learns too quickly and the other stops improving.
- Mode collapse: Mode collapse occurs when the Generator network produces a limited variety of outputs, focusing on a few specific “modes” of the data distribution while failing to capture its full diversity.
- For example, GAN trained on celebrity faces might only generate one or two similar-looking people.
Ethical implications
- Deepfake technology: Deepfake technology powered by GANs can create hyper-realistic fabricated videos and audio recordings of individuals saying or doing things they never did.
- For example, deepfakes can be weaponized for political manipulation, social unrest, and defamation, with misinformation spreading faster than the truth can be verified. This capability may undermine public trust in media and undermine the credibility of digital evidence.
- Bias reinforcement: If the training data is biased, the GAN will reinforce that bias, making it difficult or impossible to generate diverse, representative outputs. This can perpetuate societal biases in generated content.
- For example, if a dataset includes mainly male faces for certain jobs, this will be reproduced in image generation.
Explore real-life examples of AI bias issues, such as deepfakes and biased data. To mitigate generative AI risks , AI ethics problems including generative AI ethics, and ally with AI compliance implement:
Cost and resources for deployment
Developing and deploying a robust GAN application is resource-intensive due to the demanding training process.
- Hardware: Training requires high-end GPUs (e.g., NVIDIA V100 or A100) with significant VRAM. Training an advanced model like StyleGAN can take weeks on powerful hardware.
- Cloud costs: Running these models on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) can cost hundreds of dollars per day during intensive training periods.
- Expertise: A major cost factor is the requirement for highly specialized ML engineers to manage the complex training process and mitigate.
Future of GANs:
The global GAN market was estimated at USD 5.52 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach an impressive USD 36.01 billion by 2030. This change represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.7%.
This rapid expansion is driven by the increasing demand for high-quality synthetic data to augment training sets for other AI models. Due to data scarcity issues, GANs can provide means to protect sensitive information, particularly in fields like healthcare and finance where privacy is paramount.
Advancements in architecture
Ongoing research continues to push the boundaries of GAN capabilities, with the development of more stable and versatile architectures. Beyond the foundational Vanilla GAN, several notable variants have emerged to solve specific problems:
- StyleGAN: This architecture is renowned for its ability to generate highly detailed and controllable photorealistic images, particularly human faces that do not belong to real people.
- CycleGAN: A groundbreaking architecture for unpaired image-to-image translation, which can convert images from one domain to another (e.g., turning a photo of a horse into a zebra) without requiring matched training pairs.
- Conditional GANs (cGANs): These architectures introduce the concept of “conditionality,” allowing for targeted data generation by providing class labels or other auxiliary information to both the generator and discriminator. This enables a user to specify the type of output they want to generate, such as an image of a specific object.
- Hybrid model: A key emerging research direction involves the integration of GANs with other advanced AI architectures. This hybrid model approach is a strategic frontier to combine the unique strengths of different architectures to tackle more complex, multi-modal problems.
- For example, combining the generative power of GANs with the sequential intelligence of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks can enable the generation of realistic sequential data, such as stock price movements or human dialogue.
Generative models comparative
The choice of a generative model for a specific application is governed by a fundamental trade-off among output quality, training stability, and generation speed. No single architecture excels in all three domains, forcing a strategic decision based on the requirements of the task.
GANs vs. VAEs
Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) are another prominent class of generative models that differ fundamentally from GANs in their architecture and training objective.
Architectural differences
- VAEs: VAEs consist of an encoder network and a decoder network. The encoder compresses an input into a probabilistic latent representation. The decoder then reconstructs a new data sample from this latent space. The model’s objective is to maximize the likelihood of the input data while ensuring the latent variables conform to a prior distribution.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Benefits: VAEs are known for their training stability and are generally easier to train than GANs. Their explicit, meaningful latent space is well-suited for tasks like reconstruction and data interpolation.
- Drawbacks: A significant drawback is their tendency to produce blurry, less sharp images.
GANs vs. diffusion models
Diffusion models, a more recent class of generative models, have rapidly gained prominence for their exceptional output quality and training stability.
Architectural differences
- Diffusion models: Diffusion models operate through a multi-step process involving a forward diffusion process and a reverse denoising process. In the forward process, noise is progressively added to an image until only pure noise remains. A neural network then learns to perform the reverse process, gradually denoising the image to reconstruct the original data.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Benefits: They exhibit superior training stability compared to GANs because their training objective doesn’t involve a dynamic adversarial game. They are less prone to mode collapse and can generate highly diverse and high-quality outputs.
- Drawbacks: The iterative denoising process makes them significantly slower at inference time compared to GANs, which can generate a sample in a single forward pass.
Here is a summary of the comparison of three models:
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Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.
Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.
He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.
Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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