Man, I feel this. The AI debate got so heated that a lot of people stopped caring about context and just react instantly. There are definitely others out there just trying to make stuff and getting caught in the crossfire too.
Viewing post in Does AI Hatred Hurts Artists? My Experience...
This seems to be a recurring theme with certain subjects. But it happens so often now, it's starting to feel very flavor-of-the-month.
There's also this kneejerk assumption that any and all use of AI equates to direct losses for artists. I can assure people that were AI not a thing, most people would just continue to do nothing. A month of unlimited generations for $15 to mess around and brainstorm at will is totally different from paying $40 for one black-and-white sketch. The existence of AI does not suddenly fill my wallet.
I can speak from experience when I say that the attitude hurts their income more than AI ever could (independents, can't speak for corporate artists). People still buy ripped jeans on purpose. People still like all the little imperfections of hand-blown glass. I love hand-drawn pixel art. But I won't buy anymore from people that take my money, then spit on me.
Dude, I feel you.
I invented a physical card game last year, and I decided I needed to subscribe to ChatGPT to allow me to get the AI generated artwork in order to print out some physical test cards. Without that AI artwork filler, I would have been stuck with either using regular playing cards, my own shoddy stick-man artwork, or paying an artists $100s to get the real deal.
Then earlier this year I discovered the AI agents that code for us. I subscribed to Replit and spent $1000 of my savings on building my card game online and turning it into a proper PvP card battle game. Without Replit, I would then just have my basic prototype cards.