You are fast becoming my favourite person in this space! We agree on so much!
Iām still working on my rebrand/new website so I canāt link it quite yet, but I have this in my FAQ section.
What exactly is your stance on generative AI?
I have a somewhat āgrey areaā view of generative AI. Iām not a fan of models being trained on stolen art or the amount of energy used to generate AI content, but I also believe that the infrequent individual use of something in a hobby capacity shouldnāt be demonised as if youāre the same as a corporation abusing it.
In my opinion, a small amount of AI-generated content on a personal website is acceptable and in my case, I only use it whenever I cannot create or find exactly what I am looking for at a price I think is reasonable for a personal project.
As much as I would LOVE to have the budget to commission an artist to bring every single idea I have to life, I simply donāt. Sure, I could justā¦ not create it at all, but I donāt believe in restricting myself just because other people and corporations suck.
Also, if we are going to essentially bully people for using generative AI for hobby purposes, then we should be fair about it and consider all of the other hobbies that involve art theft or pollution. There are a quite a few!
TL;DR: Corporate use of generative AI is bullshit. Personal use is fine in small doses.
Yup, I agree with this as well. I have a principle that I use in situations like this: If the rich are benefiting from it, then we should benefit from it too. And I also donāt believe we should put ourselves at a disadvantage just so that we can stick to a point weāre making. Thatās like taking a double handicap in a game that you really want to win, and youāre playing against an expert.
I guess you could probably take that to some extreme, but I usually just use it as a tiebreaker when Iām struggling with some decisions.
I think the main benefits that the rich get from generative AI arenāt really something the rest of us can obtain ā for example, companies try to cut costs by firing skilled workers and then hire at lower wages to fix an LLMās mistakes, which is a benefit that doesnāt apply to hobbyists.
But I should probably save my thoughts for my own blog post, haha.
Personally I think your stance is quite reasonable compared to some peopleā¦ cough cough Twitter cough cough and I can understand why it would be an appealing option, considering you donāt exactly know who to run to when it comes to commissions or donāt have the means to afford anything to your liking. Itās when people consistently try to hide the fact theyāre using AI or profiting off it to sell their supposed original work, is when it becomes a real problem. For me, itās another form of art theft akin to something like tracing. Again, everyone else has already made a great point that corporations using this kind of tech to cut costs/labour is the real issue (It always comes back to capitalism lmaoo) and not really the hobbyists, who donāt benefit from AI financially.
My very unwarranted opinion about AI oops
Iāll probably make a somewhat more concise take in a blog post at some point; but I personally disagree about the use of generative AI in creative spaces. Maybe itās my biased opinion as an artist, I just donāt see much use in it other than maybe generating something quick and easy without caring much about consistency. Itās not really great as a reference either, due to the details becoming blurrier the closer you look at it, and its inability to understand complex fundamentals like composition and messaging. Its bias in subject matter is also a problem; like for example, if you were to generate something vague like a person with Autism, it would most likely give you a picture of a white boy (but it seems like this problem isnāt limited to tech; itās a social problem in which AI only mirrors from the people running these services. Something Iām not going to get into, because Iām not qualified to and itās not related to the main point.). I see it as a crutch for people that lack the motivation to improve in a certain field of their choosing, much like tracing was back in the day. It takes a lot of hard work to be an artist just like any other trade, and I donāt fault people for not going down that path; itās a pretty thankless job where you have to balance profit and creativity, as well as compete for attention and hope for the best.
Itās only when people start acting like theyāre somehow a creative genius, just because they typed a few words in an image generator, is when I draw the line. Imagine someone saying that theyāre better than you at your job just because they got a machine to do the thing you spent your time and poured your whole life into perfecting, while they just got hired. I would feel quite insulted. Again, if youāre not trying to pretend to take credit for something you didnāt actually create and use it for something as simple as a profile picture (that isnāt really seen from up close), then yeah I wonāt argue with you about how youāre now somehow ātaking advantage of artistsā. Itās a tool like everything else.
i see myself as a helper much like i think you see yourself. we both like seeing others succeed. something i think that is worth keeping in mind to yourself, and can help you understand when to ask for help, is that to help others, we must also at times help ourselves or ask for help. there is only so much of ourselves we can give, and we must take time to care for ourselves as well. those who would ask you for help would understand this greatly as iām sure they care about you
this is just a thought iāve personally had to remember more as i myself find it important to help others, personally i feel it is what iām meant to do here on this rock for the time i occupy it
yeah no means, and ill never have that amount of money āspareāā¦ something similar would surely cost $100+ if not motr from a real artist. i donāt think me using ai for an avatar and a personification of the website is actually a problem.
likewise, me using audio generator on my meme site ( other domain) really isnāt s problem either
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I can sense the disappointment in your post and Iām sorry this happened to you. I hope you can accept that itās not a reflection on you our your talents. Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime and that was to his brother. J.S. Bach was the third choice(!) for the job of Cantor of Leipzig. Your time will come.
Also, I know things like this are gutting in the moment, but every time theyāve happened to me Iāve always been grateful that they didnāt work out in the long run.
Yeah totally get it. It all adds up, even if you pay for something like a bust profile pic; anything extra like shading/rendering, backgrounds, or multiple characters, will add to the initial cost. Quality work takes effort or money to get.
The only important thing is that your posts will always be by you and youāre upfront about using ai like you are right now
this is a post about how my environment suffers when my mental health does, and how a small moment today gave me some guidance on why i should look after a space i care so much about
Thank you. I refuse to let this setback define me or my talents, especially as a developer. I would rather leave the company and continue to focus on honing my web development skills, than force myself to study a different field I am less interested in or equipped for (digital marketing), and sacrificing my time to keep learning web development in the process, just to keep this one job. I can already predict that I would be even more miserable in the long run if I stay in the company.
Iām sorry that happened and I wish the best for you. It is touching that youāve shared two very real things in your recent posts. I am glad you are sticking to what you want, life is too short otherwise.
Yes, this is my main problem with AI too. Debates about generative art aside, the bias problem is insidious and core to the technology.
(I wrote about this at length in a blog post that will go live on my site soon. Iāve been rebuilding it in Eleventy for several weeks.)
That is the heart of my choice to leave the company. Being diagnosed with a disabling and currently incurable genetic eye condition a few days ago definitely reinforced my decision to not waste my time or life just to keep this one job that would likely make me even more miserable if I stayed.
I mean your reasoning is quite clear and youāve evidently given the matter some thought. Itās not reflexive ass covering or trying to pretend that black is white and good is bad.
I donāt agree with you on AI, but I can understand why you think what you do from what youāve written and itās not like youāre doing something abhorrent.
well isnāt that whatās neat about blogs anyways? billion people billion opinions and everyone can say what they think? itās completely okay to disagree with me, we canāt and shouldnāt agree with everyone anyway:)
So I wrote this last night, as a way to talk about Fashion. Itās one of my fav interests, but I always feel out of my element because of how gendered it can feel. Itās a hobby that is predominantly feminine, so it can feel isolating sometimes even though clothes are a universal thing. I talk about about it in greater detail here.
