Gen AI images are not the same as digital tools. Adobe Photoshop (before the introduction of AI enhancements) did not create images for you. Adobe Illustrator did not make up a logo for you. Inkspace did not create a manga for you. A tool for art and design helps make your vision come to life. It’s not a tool that creates the vision for you. Computers streamline the creative process but they cannot be creative for you – that is – until AI images came along. Now anyone with basic writing skills can create images by inputting prompts, and even worse, creating videos that look like they came out from a fever dream.
From my prespective the wrongness of it all is when people create AI images for no particular reason (“just trying it out”) or to cut costs. The first reason can be blamed on naivetee at best but the second is just capitalism, laziness, and greed.
Since a computer cannot create AI images, it needs to use references that are created by humans. The images used to train AI models are stolen from artists since many did not consent in participating in this training at all. This resulted in a big outcry from the art community when many artists saw their own artstyles being replicated by AI. It’s not the same if one person copies the artwork of an aritst by hand. That person needs to learn how to draw first. In the process of copying they learn to improve their skills and contribute further to art. This type of copying has existed for hundreds of years as students copy masters and become masters themselves that teach new students. However, when art is copied to feed algorithms that produce cheap content for media and advertising, isn’t that morally wrong?
This is taking away paying jobs to creative artists and designers. Companies and individuals that use generative AI see it as a way of saving money and making more profits, but at the cost of employing humans. If you are not worried about AI, it’s because it hasn’t yet come for your job. Many people are going to chatGPT for therapy sessions, and some use it as their personal trainers. Slowly, almost every profession will be affected; its just a matter of time. According to the world economic forum, AI is expected to displace 92 million jobs and create 170 millions new ones. From those, the top priority is “farming”, something the technology is not expected to be able to do any time soon. If you notice the image on the right you will see that graphic designers are the 13th in declining jobs.
Does that mean that if I´m not making a profit and I just try it for fun it’s all right? No, it’s still not ethically right. Another deterrent is the amount of energy AI models consume. If you care about the environment at all, you should be avoiding it. Using chatGPT alone consumes 10 times more energy than a simple google search. My advice is: if you do not need AI do not start using it.
Lastly, gen AI images lack the fundamental quality only a human can bestow on their creation: a soul.
“Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul.”
― Hayao Miyazaki
What made me finally sit down to write my thoughts on the matter is the depressing trend of people using gen AI to make ghibli look alike images of their photos. I even saw some of my friends posting it in their instagram stories. I can’t be upset at them, since like I said, I belive it comes from naivitee. A regular person doesn’t know how this technology is threatening people or how bad it is for the environment.
If you want a photo in a ghibli style, just commission an aritst. There are plenty of artists with affordable comissions for all tastes and budgets. Support your local artists and friends. It might not be instant like AI but it will definitely have a soul.
Until the next one.
MERIKKUMA 
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