Journalist Taylor Lorenz tweeted about the difficulty of figuring out a hex code for a color using GenAI, and people are rightly roasting her for it.
Trying to find a hex code for a specific color, dropping it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. They each give me a diff hex code. I run it through again multiple times on each model. Now each of the models are giving me different hex codes. I love this system
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) March 31, 2026
Some people have suggested using an image editing software—even something as simple as MS Paint—and using the eyedropper tool to pinpoint the color of your choice and the software will simply indicate the hex code. Basically, people are suggesting that she use ANY available tool instead of GenAI to figure it out.
Me, my favorite resource for this purpose has always been Colour Swatches by Lindsay Marshall, Professor of Educational Practice in Computer Science at Newcastle University. I never can remember how I found this page all those years ago, but trust that it continues to be my go-to page for color hex codes. It’s surprising and also endearing to see that it hasn’t changed one bit since I started learning HTML.
So yeah. My point is, other tools are out there if you need them. You don’t HAVE to immediately turn to GenAI for what you’re looking for.