I’m glad to see these posts. I like taking in the opinions of many to understand the subtleties and nuances behind various modes of thinking, and this is a subject which is rapidly finding its way to the fore front.

AI in the farmy sense would likely have a very damaging impact. I think, I wouldn’t want to curate it, and so why would I put my personally created posts into the mix with a ghost town full of AI creations? Curation would decline and I believe that would result in a decline in creation. Hopefully we dont see this take place.

I recently posted a comparison of my cheesy collage illustrations vs. AI generated images. It was like Paul Bunyon vs the chainsaw guy, but if Paul Bunyon was a nerdy little dork and the chain saw guy was just a nerdy dork robot.

Personally, I still like mine better, but i will admit that the generated art brought some really cool stuff to the table that my work does not. For illustrating stories, i would probably only rely on AI if I was really pressed for time or, if I’m being honest, if the AI illustration was just plain better than mine.

From what I’m seeing, right now it looks like using AI generated illustrations could be a risky play, but I tend to agree with your assessment of effort as the real key. Garnishing a home grown dish with a splash of AI surely doesn’t undo the effort that was made, but because an AI dish garnished with a personal touch may be hard to spot…sticky situation: inbound.