Raw LLM Responses

I've been an artist for over 10 years, built a successful career in the gaming industry long before AI was even a thing, and I'm using AI in my artworks. I wouldn't call myself an AI evangelist - I fully understand the limitations of technology as well as misconceptions people have over this, which results into a one'sided echo chamber where the only argument people can come up with is 'AI slop". I don't use AI as an art vending machine where you put a coin and say "1 art, please" - most of the stuff done beforehand solely by me, AI is there to provide inspiration, brainstorm ideas and enhance my vision. In my work, making art with AI takes almost as much of time as if I would've made it manually all by myself. Except I could try hundreds of different ideas with the same amount of time as opposed to just a few, which results in a better quality not because AI is good at rendering, but because I've done all the hard work of exploration and figuring out what works. When people say AI is just a tool, they're missing the point. A tool is meant to assist you in your work, not to do everything for you. Rather, think of it as a power tool. Give it to a newbie - the results will be bad regardless if they used it or not (hence, the AI slop) and they'll probably hurt themselves in the process. But if you give it to a pro, who already understands the process and what needs to be done - the result will be good regardless, whether they used AI or not - it will only make their job easier and make them focus on more important stuff, rather than mechanical work. Art is not about how many hours you've spent drawing your piece - no one cares. It's about your artistic vision and what YOU have to say, not a machine. If your ideas are lazy, no amount of AI assistance will be able to turn shit into candy. When talking about democratizing art, the common argument I hear is "well, now anyone can create anything" as if it's something bad. I think it's beautiful. You don't have to sell your kidney to rent a RED camera to shoot your feature film. You don't have to sit for hours in front of the blank document to write the intro for your book and then spend years writing it only to find out that no one wants to publish it. You don't have to spend decade in a music school to learn music theory. Now, even an accountant can attempt to chase their dream to write a book they always wanted. A Walmart warehouse employee can try their hand at making movies without needing a film school degree, rich parents with connections and cosmic budgets, even if it's an indie film shot in your parents' basement. Yes, not all of them will succeed, not all of their ideas are good and that will most surely flood the internet with mediocre content. But open a Deviantart, and you'll see just as much shitty content. Let's not pretend it never existed. Yes, there will be more sloppy content, but the bar for mediocrity is higher now as well. Now, you have to be exceptional and have a truly unique vision in order to be noticed, AI or not. The reason why people are mad at AI is that they think it invalidates their years of hard work and suffering, now that any dummy who never held a pencil or a camera can create works that are just as good if not better. But art was never about suffering. As pointed before, no one cares how much work you've put into it, people only care about the result. I've seen people who spent half their life in art academies and their works look the same as 10 years ago. And I've seen self-taught prodigies who achieved monumental heights starting only a few years ago. Art is a form of communication. The only thing that counts is what you have to say and whether it will resonate with people. A machine is incapable of having its own world view and personality. Same goes for the majority of people, blindly following trends and incapable of thinking for themselves. Open any AI art gallery and sort it by new, all you'll see will be memes, cats and pretty women - that's your average Joe's level of creativity. Was AI responsible for their lack of creativity? Would it make a difference if they did it with their own hands? AI can be slop if you let it be. AI is just training wheels for beginners and a powerful tool for pros. It's not AI that makes sloppy art - it's the people who operate it.