If what you need is a constant stream of ever-changing imagery that you don’t glance at for more than a second or two before moving on, I’m sure AI is great for that. So are jangling keys and those slime ASMR videos. But if that’s what you want from viewing or making art, you are an alien to me.
I use it for illustrations of characters, items, and locations for my homebrew TTRPG campaign. That’s basically exactly what happens: party looks at it once, gets a general idea, and usually never looks at it again. Without AI, I just wouldn’t have the illustrations; I’m not commissioning art that’s going to get looked at once.
I wouldn’t call that “art”, in any real sense. They’re visual aids, not aesthetic masterpieces.
My party very much enjoys the visual aids I provide. They are one part of a toolbox of resources that contribute to the immersive quality of my campaign.
See also Spiderweb Software’s “Failing To Fail” talk: solo dev used the same assets in every game, and a constant complaint in the forums was that the graphics sucked. So once his sales were decent, he hired an artist to overhaul everything. The next game had the same complaints. He celebrated. Now he knew he could ignore that shit.
Without AI, I just wouldn’t have the illustrations
Well, this situation has existed for a long time. You can buy extant asset packs, no commission necessary. They’re not too expensive, either. As you noted they are just visual aids. Actually I happen to have a supermassive amount laying around from random humble bundles over the years, that were pack-ins with other items I wanted
No judgement or anything, it’s just far from an “AI or nothing” situation
I’m very particular, and my setting is not thematically typical. AI gives me the power to have a decent degree of control over the content when it’s difficult, if not impossible, to find media that’s appropriate for a particular character or scene.
I draw when I want to draw, paint when I want to paint, narrate when I want to narrate. I design, print, and paint minis and settings, I make props and maps and documents. When it comes to semi-important limited-use side characters, sometimes 5 minutes describing them to an AI is sufficient effort for the demands of the task.
Yeah so to be clear, listing a bunch of pursuits where creativity may thrive doesn’t really illustrate your passion for the craft. It actually makes your interest in art sound passing and sterile. My point is not that you have been banned from picking up a paintbrush, but that your creative process has been damaged.
And look, what we actually already have from you is an example of that damaged creativity and resourcefulness; you are proclaiming that a problem that has been solved for decades is “impossible” without AI. You’re also flitting back and forth seamlessly between these images being “glanced at for one second, less than art” and “semi important, needing to serve a particular taste” depending on whatever you think serves your point more in the moment. It doesn’t sound like you had any thought or justification behind it before today. Just something you were doing because it’s easy and you felt the need to come defend it today when you saw the concept taking some heat.
Which is all fine. You’d be better off just owning it rather than trying to construct some goldilocks zone of importance where it’s justified
My craft is not painting. My craft is designing characters, locations, scenes, interactions, storylines, events, etc. The visual aids I use are accessories to the craft, not the craft itself. My craft is not damaged because I outsource a minute portion of it. Is the creative process “damaged” because a baker doesn’t make chocolate chips from scratch for their cookies?
There is no flitting back and forth, there is no contradiction in making a particular visual aid to assist in efficiently conveying information, and that depiction only being necessary for a few moments.
Okay, so I was correct in my assessment that you mentioned it for completely inauthentic, point-serving reasons?
Is the creative process “damaged” because a baker doesn’t make chocolate chips from scratch for their cookies?
Yeah so, this is actually paying for premade assets, which is an established practice and what I am advocating for. It’s not comparable in any way to AI.
The metaphor you’re looking for is, “Is the creative process “damaged” because a baker doesn’t take photographs of their actual goods, and simply uses generic AI generated advertisements?” And the answer is yes, obviously the creative process has been damaged.
It is up to you and not a moral conundrum whether or not you care that you are eroding your creativity. But that is evidently what is happening, I’m sorry to say
You can also get deep, deep into whateverthefuck you’re into. Is your waifu no longer popular? Well, now anyone can be served a few pieces per day, without demanding a constant deluge of novelty. Is your favorite thing so niche it doesn’t have a tag? Well, endless similar examples are dead easy, and endless distinct examples are not much harder.
If what you need is a constant stream of ever-changing imagery that you don’t glance at for more than a second or two before moving on, I’m sure AI is great for that. So are jangling keys and those slime ASMR videos. But if that’s what you want from viewing or making art, you are an alien to me.
I use it for illustrations of characters, items, and locations for my homebrew TTRPG campaign. That’s basically exactly what happens: party looks at it once, gets a general idea, and usually never looks at it again. Without AI, I just wouldn’t have the illustrations; I’m not commissioning art that’s going to get looked at once.
I wouldn’t call that “art”, in any real sense. They’re visual aids, not aesthetic masterpieces.
I can’t speak for your party, but if I were in your campaign, I would vastly prefer silly doodles over some disposable AI image.
My party very much enjoys the visual aids I provide. They are one part of a toolbox of resources that contribute to the immersive quality of my campaign.
See also Spiderweb Software’s “Failing To Fail” talk: solo dev used the same assets in every game, and a constant complaint in the forums was that the graphics sucked. So once his sales were decent, he hired an artist to overhaul everything. The next game had the same complaints. He celebrated. Now he knew he could ignore that shit.
Well, this situation has existed for a long time. You can buy extant asset packs, no commission necessary. They’re not too expensive, either. As you noted they are just visual aids. Actually I happen to have a supermassive amount laying around from random humble bundles over the years, that were pack-ins with other items I wanted
No judgement or anything, it’s just far from an “AI or nothing” situation
I’m very particular, and my setting is not thematically typical. AI gives me the power to have a decent degree of control over the content when it’s difficult, if not impossible, to find media that’s appropriate for a particular character or scene.
It sounds more like AI has disempowered you to exercise your creativity tbh
I draw when I want to draw, paint when I want to paint, narrate when I want to narrate. I design, print, and paint minis and settings, I make props and maps and documents. When it comes to semi-important limited-use side characters, sometimes 5 minutes describing them to an AI is sufficient effort for the demands of the task.
Yeah so to be clear, listing a bunch of pursuits where creativity may thrive doesn’t really illustrate your passion for the craft. It actually makes your interest in art sound passing and sterile. My point is not that you have been banned from picking up a paintbrush, but that your creative process has been damaged.
And look, what we actually already have from you is an example of that damaged creativity and resourcefulness; you are proclaiming that a problem that has been solved for decades is “impossible” without AI. You’re also flitting back and forth seamlessly between these images being “glanced at for one second, less than art” and “semi important, needing to serve a particular taste” depending on whatever you think serves your point more in the moment. It doesn’t sound like you had any thought or justification behind it before today. Just something you were doing because it’s easy and you felt the need to come defend it today when you saw the concept taking some heat.
Which is all fine. You’d be better off just owning it rather than trying to construct some goldilocks zone of importance where it’s justified
Uh, wow, don’t really know where to start there.
My craft is not painting. My craft is designing characters, locations, scenes, interactions, storylines, events, etc. The visual aids I use are accessories to the craft, not the craft itself. My craft is not damaged because I outsource a minute portion of it. Is the creative process “damaged” because a baker doesn’t make chocolate chips from scratch for their cookies?
There is no flitting back and forth, there is no contradiction in making a particular visual aid to assist in efficiently conveying information, and that depiction only being necessary for a few moments.
Okay, so I was correct in my assessment that you mentioned it for completely inauthentic, point-serving reasons?
Yeah so, this is actually paying for premade assets, which is an established practice and what I am advocating for. It’s not comparable in any way to AI.
The metaphor you’re looking for is, “Is the creative process “damaged” because a baker doesn’t take photographs of their actual goods, and simply uses generic AI generated advertisements?” And the answer is yes, obviously the creative process has been damaged.
It is up to you and not a moral conundrum whether or not you care that you are eroding your creativity. But that is evidently what is happening, I’m sorry to say
You can also get deep, deep into whateverthefuck you’re into. Is your waifu no longer popular? Well, now anyone can be served a few pieces per day, without demanding a constant deluge of novelty. Is your favorite thing so niche it doesn’t have a tag? Well, endless similar examples are dead easy, and endless distinct examples are not much harder.