This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/artificial by /u/x86dragonfly on 2023-08-08 15:45:35.

Hi everyone.

I am an artist. And programmer, and kind of a bit of everything. But what is important, is that I was an artist before the current “generative AI” was a thing, and I have been drawing, digitally and traditionally alike for like… a decade?

Art, to me, is getting what is inside your head, and presenting it to others outside of your consciousness and thoughts. It’s showing the world a piece of your interpretation, your experience, your impressions of the world you inhabit. It’s about communicating to others your emotions, your ideas, your thoughts and feelings.

Not everyone can draw, or paint, or sculpt. I could say “learn it, it’s easy”, but that would be a lie. It isn’t easy. It is years upon years of constant, hard work, requiring focus and dedication, and a passion for learning it. After all these years, I still struggle with motivation sometimes.

But everyone has ideas. Everyone has feelings. Some people are disabled, some have learning difficulties. There is also something called “aphantasia”, where people find it difficult to imagine things. People taking antipsychotics for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia might have difficulties with expressing themselves due to both their illnesses and the side effects of the medications they are taking. Not to mention the people who have paralysis, muscle control issues and terminal illnesses like ALS and MS, whose control over their bodies will slowly deteriorate and they have no power to do anything about that. I could go on…

Generative AI can give all of these less fortunate souls a chance to express their feelings, thoughts and desires in a way that is closer to what a person without these hindrances could achieve.

They can now use words, and other modalities to translate their thoughts into something visual. They now have the ability to create something similar to someone like me, who is fortunate enough to be healthy.

Don’t you feel the weight of this? The fact that now anyone can express how they feel, express what they are thinking of, their desires and emotions, even those who couldn’t before. I sincerely believe it’s a positive thing.

Whether you are a struggling traditional/digital artist, an AI-workflow professional, a programmer, an animator, a writer. As long as you do what you love with passion and respect others, I respect you.

I respect everyone who is honest about the tools they use. Everyone who is honest about how they achieved their desired results.

And most importantly, I respect those who have the courage to present a piece of their soul through whatever medium to the world to see, be it digital, traditional, generative, mixed media, or even something else entirely.

I understand the frustration of anyone who fears for their livelihood, animators, artists… but it’s 2023. Things have always changed. Things will always change. We all fear for our livelihoods. We all fear for our future, both as individuals and as a species. Disaster happens upon disaster, people die, wars happen, conflicts, and climate change, the list goes on…

AI is a tool, and can be used to create bad, mediocre and amazing art, just like any other. Instead of creating a single piece over two weeks, now I can create a whole world in the same amount of time, create custom brushes with a single line of command, help myself out with compositional ideas when I’m stuck, sick or burned out.

I think we need to be more mindful of consent during data collection, yes, but I personally do not mind my art being part of one.

For reference, content-aware fill has been a thing in Photoshop since CS5 (released in 2010, mind you)

I have never gotten any complaints from customers saying “you used content aware fill in this part, these are not your pixels, I want my money back.”

Art isn’t the tools people use to create it. Art is a precious shard of the soul that produced it. As long as you are genuine and honest about your technique, your art is valid and worthy of appreciation by those who witness it.

Until next time.