A.I. generated Art (where do you stand?)

[.: Meri :.]

I tried to keep an open mind about it, but I'm leaning pretty strongly towards "bane of my existence" now. Other users have already raised the potential ethical issues surrounding the dataset/training for the AI, which is a concern for me as well, but I don't have the programming knowledge to be comfortable discussing that aspect of this issue.

I can, however, speak to how AI generated images are unfortunately already harming artists. An artist livestreaming a piece of Genshin Impact fanart had their work in progress screenshotted, then fed into NovelAI, which "finished" the piece several hours before they could, and were then accused of stealing their own artwork. Thankfully, this situation ended well enough, but it's still deeply concerning how similar methods could be used against others.

And earlier this year, an AI-generated image came in first place in the Colorado State Fair's fine arts competition, with the person who used the generator winning a $300 USD cash prize in place of any of the other actual artists who entered. In another situation, a person selling AI-generated anime style pieces got a booth in the artist's alley at Anime Expo. There's limited booth spaces already at conventions, and there's usually plenty of artists who try to get a space and are unable to. So for someone to get a coveted place at a convention, selling pieces generated by an AI, which was very possibly trained on the works of artists who didn't consent to their art being used for that purpose... yeah. I'd hoped it wouldn't actually come to this, but we're already seeing AI-generated images taking opportunities away from actual artists.

While I truly don't believe that AI art will ever totally replace human art... as @/Drawdler explained excellently above, it can certainly replace jobs. It's stressed me out enough as it is, and I'm deeply grateful to be lucky enough to be in a position where I have backup plans and a stable situation if things don't work out. But the same can't be said for a lot of artists who are just starting out or trying to build a career in the field. Frankly, I don't like to disparage myself because I know how discouraging it can sound, but I know I've still got a long way to go as an artist. Before, that might've meant that I could work my way up as I gained more experience, etc. etc., but now, well... it might not be long before art goes back to being another hobby or passion of mine.

 

[-Blue-]

@Merielle Not AI, but Etsy (a place that is praised as being handmade) is already overrun by drop-shippers/retail sellers, and those that pretend they have the stuff but actually create the order themselves with the true artist (elsewhere or within the Etsy account) when you pay them.

So yeah don't be fooled by the NFT bros. This is just another way to scam people.

 

[Romaki]

Sucks for artists, everything is just stolen from somewhere. Like people feeding AIs like 300 scripts from a TV series to generate a new one was kinda funny because it was a little bit nonsensical, but it's not right to do this to people who posess an amazing skill they worked hard for who are barely scraping by.

Every artist is so recognizable too. Take hanavbara as an example. Google the name to get an idea of the art style. Part of if is that they get to decide what art they create in their style. They can express themselves with their fandoms and whatever they like. Put that into a generator and you lose any kind of character to the art. It's like artist vs random stock images.

Artists should be able to opt into being part of AI generators, not being forced into it.

 

[-Mars-]

--

 

[Foreverfox]

I don’t really like the idea, to be honest. I wouldn’t go quite as far as bane of my existence, but if there were an option for don’t like it, I’d pick that. I went with the first option. It is interesting, but I do feel it very likely COULD take work from true artists. Much like automation takes work from technologists and engineers. When it comes down to it, the almighty dollar has pull, and when people can save a few hundred or thousand by implementing AI where possible, why wouldn’t they? Yeah, sure you can argue that a person won’t because they want the human qualities about art, but then why would we have gotten to this point to begin with? Simply “because we can” isn’t a good enough answer to convince me otherwise. AI will eventually get smarter and learn how to mimic human qualities without a distinguishable trait to the untrained eye.

 

[Jhine7]

Never knew this existed. I would say it's interesting with no value in it. I'm not an artist myself but I can see why it could be a problem for the real artists out there.

 

[-Blue-]

When this was first becoming a thing, I read a post about someone who had a job as a language translator where they mentioned how the new AI translators (like Google translate and the such) ruined the job. Instead of full translations, people would copy/paste/translate and then hire them to make minor edits to the translations. Except most times they mentioned how the AI translator reguriated gibberish and they had to go back to the original language to make the proper edits. So they were essentially doing their original job, but for less pay.

I can see people cramming this art generating AI with their ideas of art and then bringing it to a true artist for them to fix the imperfections. Except they'll expect to pay them peanuts (and artists already get paid so low as it is) just like it happened to this translator. And they either waste a lot of time trying to edit it or redo the entire thing (essentially drawing it from scratch)


And it also brings up another question. This place holds a lot of events with art being one of the usual contests. All of you voting this is a great way to inspire new artists, do you think it's fair for people to use an AI to steal artwork and then submit it to the contest? That's something you should really consider. Because I think that's messed up.

 

[nightglow]

And it also brings up another question. This place holds a lot of events with art being one of the usual contests. All of you voting this is a great way to inspire new artists, do you think it's fair for people to use an AI to steal artwork and then submit it to the contest? That's something you should really consider. Because I think that's messed up.

What many are trying to call "AI generated art" in this thread is actually a program written to randomly apply a random filter on an image from somewhere else or layer some images on top of each other with filters which simply isn't AI generated art. Otherwise any digital art (a filter, transparency, or any sort of algorithm in it's creation) would be "AI art" which is again is simply not true. And unfortunately there are many out there trying to say it's true and using that to do what they want with theft.
Remembers a time when people argued about digital art not being real art like physical paper art done by hand...
Actual AI generated art would have photos, art, and articles analyzed. Knowledge of what is pleasant and what isn't and "how art works" (example, rules about colors, color wheel). It would create original art after it's self learning has developed ( like isn't gonna keep spitting out its own take on Starry Night, or some random artist's art piece) .
As for art contests, rules are a thing. Art made by you wouldn't include AI art, and rules can clarify that if some insist that it is. Not that complicated. I also think contests should also address IPs cuz fan art is also a way to argue.

 

[Mars Adept]

It was funny months ago when it was used for memes, but like anything else that corporations get their grubby hands on it isn’t fun anymore. I think stuff such as this is proof that the further technology evolves, the easier it will be for people to do immoral or even disgusting things.

 

[nightglow]

It was funny months ago when it was used for memes, but like anything else that corporations get their grubby hands on it isn’t fun anymore. I think stuff such as this is proof that the further technology evolves, the easier it will be for people to do immoral or even disgusting things.

Yup. I think that's why NFTs are being pushed because it is impossible to steal your art if you block chain it before posting it online. (I know very controversial). Point being in bringing it up is that there are people trying to think of something to help the digital world and people do acknowledge the problem. Growing up I remember some artists voicing how they won't move over to digital art because it made theft easily possible or they thought the features of an art program where unfair. (Note this was a long time ago).

 

[Mars Adept]

Actually, I think people are latching onto AI art because the NFT/crypto market crashed. It’s another form of ‘modern art’ that isn’t art at all and steals real artists’ hard work.

 

[nightglow]

I'd have to disagree. There were NFTs labeled as AI art before the NFT crash which was caused by a decline in people buying. The cryptocurrency crash was caused by the Stablecoin, however block chaining is still secure. You canted edit that out like you can a water mark in Photoshop and then argue in court. It was my point in mentioning it. Block chaining was for the purpose of stopping theft and making more security of digital assets.

Edit ( to clarify, and correct me if wrong, the Stablecoin is the value of a Cryptocurrency while the Blockchain is the security of the a cryptocurrency or other digital asset when being made. Security in that it cannot be counterfeit/faked, like an ID)

 

[Imbri]

Personally, I think it's a cheat. Now, I can't draw a stick figure to look like a person, but I know I can learn.

The other thing about all these apps is that I doubt people are reading the PSA on them. I've seen one which states that anything you upload to create that cute anime version - your pets, your photos, your face - become the property of the company who created the app, to do with as they wish.

I don't know if that would actually hold up in court, but are you willing to have to fight them to prove it? I'm not. It just isn't worth it.

 

[nightglow]

Personally, I think it's a cheat. Now, I can't draw a stick figure to look like a person, but I know I can learn.

The other thing about all these apps is that I doubt people are reading the PSA on them. I've seen one which states that anything you upload to create that cute anime version - your pets, your photos, your face - become the property of the company who created the app, to do with as they wish.

I don't know if that would actually hold up in court, but are you willing to have to fight them to prove it? I'm not. It just isn't worth it.

Unfortunately it does hold up even though 'it's small print", app or website or engine, whatever. Then those companies can sell them off or donate them to projects or use them themselves. Another reason to be mindful in when/where you post your photos or art or any personal info.

 

[skarmoury]

Imo it's a neat concept in theory in studying how AI can learn from different artworks, but making it for public use with people claiming they are 'AI artists' rubs me off in all the wrong places. No such thing as an 'AI artist'; the AI is literally doing all the thinking and the brush strokes for you and all you do is make a few edits before passing it as your own. It's like trying to say the copyreader is the writer. I read an AI artist claim that say they 'spent an hour drawing' so they have every right to call an AI-processed art as their own, like man have you seen how many hours people actually put into making something from scratch? I don't care if you are an experienced or new artist; you are an artist if and only if you create something with your own hands. Mashing already-made pictures and artworks using an AI means you've essentially eliminated the essence of becoming an artist.

AI-generated art does not showcase your own intentions, your own emotions, your own brushstrokes, or your own style. As an artists, at least I know my own artworks represents me, that there is a human behind them.

Honestly I think AI art shouldn't have been made at all. What's the point? What purpose will it serve? There are countless artists out there. Why would you need an AI? Get a pen and paper and draw; don't use an AI to make your artworks for you. Or, yknow, commission actual artists.

 

[Clock]

AI art feels like cheating and it doesn't feel honest at all.
Plus, it's more honest satisfying to draw it yourself than let the AI do it since it's can mess up a lot.

 

[Venn]

At first, I thought it was interesting and even tried random prompts to see how it worked and just thought it was cool and I didn't see a bad side of it because I wasn't aware of how the programs/AI were created and how it worked. With the latest trend of AI portraits lately, I noticed "signatures" showing up in some of the final results and that was what made me aware that it was taking pieces already created a forming new pieces. So now I am not really in favor of it. I hear the artists and I stand by their side in this debate.

 

[PoppyPumpkin]

I didn't -mind- it at first, and I don't entirely mind it if you're only using it to generate art that you don't intend to sell or purchase. I've had some RP friends use it to generate their characters, which I guess I don't see an issue since they're not sharing the ai art anywhere but their RP platforms (roleplay btw)
However I will die on the hill that ai art should never be sold and that no, it does not make you an artist. I have several friends who do art for a living (one who works on game graphics, actually) who are already suffering as a result of ai art. People don't realize they are destroying careers and stealing work in a round about way. Like you make the ai art and you technically own it but... where did the prompts that made it come from? heck i've even seen some ai generated art generate WITH watermarks on it and signatures =/
All in all, I think it should be put to rest.

 

[Yanrima~]

The only good AI art generator is Dall-e mini because it's funny.

Besides that, the rest of this AI art stuff needs to go. Or at least put more regulations towards people claiming credit for the AI art that they didn't make and selling the AI art for profit.

The problem with AI art is as of now, it's heavily unregulated which causes problems for people who's job relies on making art or people who had true passion for art.

Robotics and artificial intelligence are a double-edged sword. One can use it as an aid to get the job faster, the other was to completely replace people and put their way of living in danger of being obsolete.

In the end, human-made art had soul and heart put to it and no AI (especially AI artists) can completely replace it. People will still go to actual artists for art regardless of whether the AI can adapt to near human levels of art. AI art never had a same feeling as an actual artist putting their thoughts onto an art piece or an art commission made with hard work and integrity. AI art will have no where near as heartfelt or passionate as an art made by an actual artist.

 

[Shawna]

I am gonna be honest…this may be a tad controversial: but I do think it’s fun to play around with. Putting a string of words or certain prompt and seeing what you get. ^^

however, I prefer to just keep it private into myself. I don’t like the idea of posting it, as though I’m the one who made it because it does give the art industry a bad name.