I first dabbled with AI image generation back in 2022 and sprinkled a few such images throughout my worldbuilding project. It was easy to look past all of the flaws with the idea that it was nothing more than a novelty. And I never cared nearly enough about my worldbuilding to pay anyone for artwork of it.
Now that I look back at it, those images are obvious slop, which I've grown to dislike as much as the next person. But recent comments I've seen here and on other sites have made me wonder if my brain has rotted in the same manner that makes some boomers fall for AI slop. There will be videos where the use of AI is not very noticeable to me, but not with deceptive intent. Maybe an illustration to get the point across or a subtle two-second animation. Commenters will very passionately point it out. To be honest, I don't see the creator either paying for the equivalent human work or drawing anything better themselves.
Does it really just look that bad? Is it an issue with what AI and the companies that sponsor it stand for? Theft of real artists' work? Does it change at all if the images were generated locally with the creator's own hardware and resources? What about upscaling images, like I do with old wallpapers so that they look better on new monitors?
I assume what I've just said will attract downvotes, but that was my thought process and I do want to understand where other people draw the line and for what reasons. Should we limit it to quick-and-dirty illustrations, pure novelty, upscaling existing images, a model that only incorporates work if the artist consents, or something else?
yeah it's visible that it's AI but the stuff is still recognizable
meanwhile my own sketches look like this:
also recognizable but less graphic --> less catchy.
also in case anyone is wondering: the greenhouses are well-rendered by AI. it's not a mistake, i specifically asked it to draw it like this. here are some more:
greenhouses for algae
the reason why it looks like this is because it's essentially a flat sheet of plastic filled with water, to grow algae in. algae can be surprisingly nutritious actually. (comparable calories to bread)
Goodness, those solar panels have been battered. And somebody spilled their spaghetti all over the ground.
So what purpose is this supposed to serve?
well i originally did the images for the !mars@discuss.tchncs.de community to have some nice visuals to go with. just like pepper makes the food tastier, even though it serves no role in diet, so do visuals make discussion more lively, even though they're not technically necessary.
anyways, after a significant backlash against AI (that btw i still don't get but whatever) i stopped posting these images, now they're sleeping on my disk.
That's your grand purpose? Pretty images that nobody sees because who even browses Lemmy by going to individual communities? I was expecting at least something like a sales pitch for some technology that you invented that will aavd the world where only pretty images that nobody looks at too closely will convince your investors.
I am almost certain, if you ask nice enough, you can find a nice artist on Lemmy or the wider Fediverse who will create a simple image for you, for free or very cheap.
Failing that, use free images from NASA. Perseverance posts a bunch of photos every day.