Thoughts on AI art?

[writerhongpao]

I agree with several others above, AI is a tool and can be directed to any purpose. It can make the creation of images quicker and easier. Setting aside the questionable means of achieving that, it is like our generation's version of the industrial revolution. It's not all bad, and in fact technical advancements in the past freed up humans to focus on different things.

But at what point does it cease to be a tool, and instead AI becomes a creator instead of the human? What work is required of the human for said human to get any credit? Is it enough for the human to just come up with an idea, and for the computer to make it for them?

I am not against AI as a tool, but I question where this is all heading. AI generation is basically saying, come up with something for me. It's like in computer programming, switching from imperative (telling the computer the steps to take) to declarative (telling the computer what you want). Or to make an analogy, having a magical genie that can grant your every wish. Though more efficient than doing everything yourself, and yes you still are the originator, it just seems to be undercutting the purpose of art in the first place. Business, I can see the reason, since the end result (i.e. profit) is most important. But art? Doesn't the method matter?

It's like hiring a ghost writer to make a book for you, then claiming to be the author. Maybe in general you directed the book's content, but don't you want to write it yourself? Why take away your own voice? We make robots to build cars because we don't want to do it ourselves anymore. But why make robots to speak for us? To draw for us?

Even for my web novel, I chose to pay for an artist to make the cover art, because I felt in some way that I was collaborating with another artist. In that sense, I feel like AI art is lacking by its very definition. It would be like the first version of my cover, where I just found a suitable stock photo with a mishmash of other things I wanted in it. It wasn't something I would call art. In fact, it was more for expediency, considering the amount of effort (or lack thereof) I put into it. Emulation would be a more accurate term.

[SameMoon]

It's not AI art, it's AI theft. It could not merge images together without real artists and coming up with prompts doesn't make you an artist. It's like getting a drink from a vending machine and calling yourself a Cocacola artist.

[Vermuth]

I think Ai can be helpful. However, it is important to distinguish how and where it is used. If you can't draw and an Ai lets you "draw" your pictures, you just can't be proud of these pictures. There is no personal contribution to it. In addition, Ai does not have its own drawing style. That means you'll never be able to maintain the same style. In addition, many Ai ́s use databases that are composed of stolen works by other artists. On the other hand, Ai can also be a help. If you look at Photoshop's new AI tool, it makes it a lot easier, especially in the photography sector. Without resorting to stolen works. Chatbots can also be a help. For example, if you are stuck in a dialogue while writing, you can try to recreate it and continue it logically. Again, you should note that not all bots can do the same thing and not all have clean databases. I see the whole thing with mixed feelings. Yes, Ai can help. But you shouldn't leave everything to her. You can tell too much when an artist relies too much on Ai.

[Fafnir]

Listening to people say they always struggled with art, but were always interested in it. And now, thanks to AI, they can finally be creatively fulfilled, makes me wanna vomit.
I struggle with cooking, but now, with uber, I can finally feel like a real chef when the food is delivered to my doorstep? blargh
like... uh.. work for it people. I can't wait for the entitlement in coming generations to increase to even more extreme levels.

[irresponsiblepics]

I always make the " these AI advocates probably think ordering food online makes them a chef" analogy.

I actually tried out bing "create" recently out of morbid curiousity and I felt nothing but emptiness.
I always feel good art requires challenging.
There's always fulfillment in that.
AI is devoid of those ingredients.

[cherrystark]

I can't wait for the entitlement in coming generations to increase to even more extreme levels.

What about the entitlement from the art community? All of the "scams" that I've heard of linked with AI art have been perpetuated by actual "artists". They're the ones entering art contests and trying to sell it as their own. I work with a lot of authors who've used AI for their book covers - no one EVER claims that they were the artist. They simply say "I made this using AI."

Or what about the fact that artists think they're entitled to commissions? A lot of writers I know would much rather use human-designed content for our covers. But it's just not an option for many of us. We can buy subscriptions to royalty photo sites and then turn around see the same art on royalty-free sites. We run a super-high risk of getting copyright claimed no matter which site we use. Not to mention the fact that we're also at a high risk of being cheated by the human artists that we came to in good faith.

The risk of scams is also on top of the stress of searching through writing, marketing, editing, revising their work, finding an artist who is talented enough to bring their vision to life and who is also professional enough to finish the project. If the project doesn't go swimmingly well, we're stuck paying an exorbitant amount of money for an image we can't use. If we can't use the image to help sell our work, it means that we can't afford to invest money back into the art world.

So in short, I would rather use an AI art generator to get exactly what I want and be free and clear to use it, than try to fight a human artist to give me what I want. *And before anyone says it - a LOT of AI art generators have limited their categories to different art styles such as comic hero, fantasy, photo, etc and are paying artists a license to use their styles and won't generate from copyrighted material. There will always be art theft but it's always going to be human-led, not AI-led

[KevinReijnders]

Just get the cover artist to sign a contract, where it explicitly states they grant you the copyright for the cover. The fee is their compensation for it.

Having bad experiences with shitty people is still no excuse to use AI in my opinion.

[cherrystark]

But that won't stop the "artists" from charging you an arm and a leg for a half assed picture; clashes between artist/client over the "vision" of the cover; the artist stealing images and source materials, the artist ghosting the client, or even the artist using AI and passing it off as their own original work.

AI is far more cost effective and accessible for the vast majority of people trying to make a living doing art.

[KevinReijnders]

If that's how you look at it, then you're just trading one scammer for another 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Fafnir]

Yup. alot of writers who just want to make a quick buck instead of taking writing as an art seriously have an excellent tool at their disposal now.
Us poor artists over here struggling to make a living sure are entitled. You bet.

[Fafnir]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[cherrystark]

My point is simply that a lot of the problems in the art world are coming directly from other human artists, but no one wants to talk about that fact. AI is the problem.

Yup. alot of writers who just want to make a quick buck instead of taking writing as an art seriously have an excellent tool at their disposal now. Us poor artists over here struggling to make a living sure are entitled. You bet.

Now about this point. I have no intention of turning this into a contest over who is struggling more. Several writers do take their writing seriously and treat it like an art form. Writing a novel is not a way to earn quick cash. You earn maybe 2.50 USD per book you sell, per platform. It takes a serious commitment of time and finances before an author even starts to make money. So yeah, I don't fault any writer for using an AI cover because they're also struggling to make a living with their art.

[sbtrack]

So, do you fault anyone who uses AI to write their books?

Is it okay for me to upload every single book you've written into an AI?

It would mean I could release multiple chapters a week. Dozens and dozens of books of these same series.

I could even upload them all to Amazon marketplace. Right next to your book.

People could see my book and think it looks close enough to your book that they buy mine instead.

Since I can pump out dozens of these books in a day, soon people won't even see your book until they scroll to page 10000.

If you allow AI, then what's to stop the next guy from doing the same thing? Any time you start to have the slightest success with a book, they can also release dozens and dozens of these look-alike books in 1 day.

Some authors who sell their books online have already been harmed by this if you look it up.

Just because something is a technological innovation doesn't mean you have to roll over and accept it. I could invent the next self-driving bulldozer to bulldoze your house and would you accept our new self-driving bulldozer overlords because it's the next phase of technology?

Will you not "fault" me for using a new technological tool to take all the money from your bank account because I'm "also struggling to make a living"?

If all you care about is your own convenience and you think using an "AI art generator to get exactly what I want and be free and clear to use it", you're still leaving yourself open to copyright claims.

Unless you can provide which images you fed into the AI, to prove that the images were sourced ethically, you open yourself to being called out by any artist with a following that can stain your reputation and down-rate your books. Years of your hard work down the drain because no one can trust that any of your work is your own.

If all you care about is cost, you could still be stuck paying an exorbitant amount of money for an image you can't use and potential lawsuits because AI generated material doesn't fall under copyright protection.

If using AI is just as risky and inconvenient as finding a person, what is the real reason you keep pushing for AI as something that can't be denied? Why start an argument with people who weren't even mentioning you specifically, and were just sharing their own opinions on AI?

It comes across as you wanting to be free to steal art / writing, you don't want people to make it a hassle for you, you only care if it's easy for you to do so, without the consequences of a ruined reputation and lawsuits that come with it.

[justanothernerdling]

As an artist I've offered people irl some free commissions as a gift, eg for D&D games and such. Having been told "it's OK, I got AI to do it" not once, but TWICE... it hurts.

[Rai_Muffin]

Don't like how people can use AI to make what real artists can, usually by stealing assets from real artists,
but I wouldn't be opposed to AI that can help us.
If I could get an AI program to auto colour characters for me based on their appearance it would streamline a lot of my workload.

It's a new field that people are still coming to grips with, but it can help rather than replace if people who actually care about art are guiding it.

[TroyVSTheWorld]

Boy this is a really basic topic that gets a ridiculous amount of chatter about it, huh

[hellenne]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[tacticalglasses]

Regardless, the business trend we see coming is that AI won't replace people in the short term, but artist who knows AI will be hired over those who don't. So in the meantime, know your value as an artist and drive the conversation in the field. Let the non-creatives understand that AI is a tool and not the ONLY art solution they need.

Yeah, it's already happening all over around my multimedia production/ advertising circles. More on reduction of creative staff. The ones that weren't axed are those who usually know how to use AI to speed up their workflow than those who don't.