So, I’ve noticed there has been a lot of controversy on the topic of AI in the art community, and decided to put in my thoughts. I’m kind of worried I’ll get yelled at for not being, like, ALLERGIC to AI, but hear me out. EDIT: yes, I know AI steals art. I made this project (notably the slides inside the project) to help the art community find ways around it and ways to treat AI thieves, especially because it's so easy to abuse. AI art should never be claimed as your own art. I’m just saying this up front. Trying to trick people into thinking AI art is yours (even if you edited it) is NOT okay. Especially on a website like Scratch, where kids aren’t going to be able to tell. That’s just low. I personally am guilty of having messed around with AI image generators (mostly for my moodboards), because it’s honestly a very cool thing, but I’ve also never claimed AI art as mine nor posted AI art anywhere. However, I have taken AI art and heavily redesigned them into original characters (If you want an example on how to take inspiration from AI art, look in the project). Now, before you guys start yelling at me for theft and supporting AI and being horrible, I want you to know that I BARELY keep the design recognizable. The most I do is incorporate a few cool traits/colors/etc and then change the rest. A.K.A, the exact same way that people take inspiration from real art. And I know what you must be thinking: but, Arkkeina! It's still stealing! Stealing only really happens when people believe that the thief (or in this case, the AI) made 100% of the art, which isn't true, since everyone knows how AI image generators work. Even the AI engines state they use real art and other images to generate new ones. If you credit the AI, everyone will know that it came from a mashup of real art, and it WON'T be stealing, because people know it is fake art. However, if you want to share an AI-generated image without redrawing/redesigning, here are some tips for how to responsibly do this! 1. Give credit! Always give credit to an AI art engine! You don’t have to name it if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, but have “this image was made by AI” somewhere 2. If it’s an OC, don’t post it until you’ve redesigned it! Even if you feel like the AI art has a unique design and you give proper credit, don’t post AI art as your OCs! You never know what the AI took inspiration from, so it’s safest to redraw and redesign the character before posting it anywhere! 3. Edit it! Touch up the image to fix any errors (e.g. duplicated fingers/misaligned eyes/etc…)! This step isn’t mandatory, but it just makes the image nicer overall Now, what if you see someone posting AI art and claiming it as your own? Don’t harass them! They want attention, that’s why they post AI art. Just move on. It’s that easy. You avoid needless drama, and you don’t make someone (who is probably just a kid who wants views and doesn’t know better) feel terrible. Another thing with people seeing AI art being posted, even if it’s credited and tweaked and everything, is that they’ll steal the AI character out of spite. I see lots of comments on AI art saying things like, “Thanks for the free character! :)” or “I’m taking this OC, this is AI”. Don’t do this! This makes you no better than the original poster of the AI image. Even if YOU redesign and credit, you still made unnecessary drama and attacked someone for posting pixels on a screen. EDIT 2: If you want to converse/argue with me about this, go ahead! I like hearing other peoples' ideas and arguments against mine. Just please don't just comment something like "okay but it's still stealing". Present me with actual counterarguments to what I said in this project, instead of just saying something like "yeah but not really, you're wrong."
