Somehow I forgot to post about it. Basically, there are AI generated pictures in th20, th19 had them too. I found out about that fact from this blogpost: https://chlio.net/blog/zun-slop/. TLDR; some peoples think that it isn’t a big deal, because it’s only backgrounds, but author thinks otherwise. It has interesting links like:
AI pics from the games: https://imgur.com/a/curious-th19-images-zY7KhSj https://imgur.com/a/curious-th20-textures-xq8mm5i
A thread about that topic, also touches some historical aspects of Touhou: https://bsky.app/profile/richardeffendi.bsky.social/post/3lotbwg4hvs2c
Tbh few months ago i would be absoluetly against it and argue that this is support for a thing that kills artists. But now and with this specific case i’d just say that’s too bad but not a big deal.
I do some art myself and i avoid using AI for inspiration, like i avoid being dependent on any tool i cannot fully understand. I know that this is not the vision of some others artists and if they find joy in using AI, good for them, just, i think it is putting their creativity on the side, which is wasted potential.
Like others say though, i hope that ZUN will keep his drunk brain as the root of the game he makes. That he will keep touhou “artisanal”. (I think he will do, because afterall, before genAI was everywhere, he used stock image for backgrounds, which have very little importance on the content itself, AI’s a small change).
That aside, with the anti-genAI movement on internet becoming more harsh and unforgiving, i’d say i’m just tired of doing morals on others.
If an artist is passionate and happy, about its project, it is the only thing that matter. If they use gen tools to do it faster and that no one will notice because it’s too good, it’s their problem. It’s them who should question themselves if they want to let an AI putting others ideas on theirs, whitout regretting it later.
(oops i divagued a bit on the end)