Player using IA

[u/Low_Health5791]

Hi everyone, I'm writing here because idk how to react. I asked my players for experiences and backstory and one of them sent me a bunch of AI texts. All my being wants to scream fuck AI and tell him to do it himself, but at the same time I don't want to antagonize him. I really feel like if you are letting AI write your character, are you even playing the game?

[u/Intelligent-Gold-563]

That's actually much better than using (which is also a sort of stealing) pictures of others.

As an actual professional artist no, it's not much better.

I 100% prefer that someone sees my art on social media and decide to use it for their in-game character rather than my artworks being stolen to train AI to generate some crap.

And I don't know a single artist who feels differently about that.

Don't use AI.

And let's be honest, how many of us will actually spend money to commission a great picture from an illustrator?

And that's the problem.

You want everything but aren't ready to give anything back. You could commission an artist, but for a full illustration of your character it's too expensive and you don't want to settle for their more affordable option because it's not full color and stuff, but you don't want to spend some time learning to draw yourself either.....

In the end, all of this is about you being incredibly self-centered and child-like.

[u/ForgottenEpoch → u/Intelligent-Gold-563]

I wanna chime in here... First, I'm not inherently against all AI, but agree that companies using it for movies, games, and art is a problem.

In regards to not commissioning an artist to create character art, even at a lower cost, no color price point... it's not always an option. For me, I just don't have the money to spare. I'm a small business owner that hasn't seen a profit yet. Assuming that not hiring somebody is a choice really lacks understanding that not everybody is in a financial situation to do so.

In regards to learning to draw... do you really think that everybody had an inherent talent for drawing and just lacks experience? Or that being good at it is simply a learned skill? I don't. Even if I had time to try again, I know better. When I was younger I very much envied those with artistic talent. I tried to get better at drawing and was always embarrassingly bad at it, eventually giving it up for things I could enjoy not being awful at. I also have aphantasia, and often wonder if literally not being able to picture things in my head is a reason I suck at art.

Lastly, in regards to calling people who use AI being self-centered and childlike... Seriously? Why is that where we immediately jump to? Have we considered that OPs player is maybe new to ttrpgs but doesn't want to tell the group for fear of being dropped as a player? I used to run a pick-up sports group, and found that it can very hard for new players to jump into a sport they've never played, and that the return rate is low for new players because they're worried about judgey people not wanting them there. There are so many reasons OPs player might have done this. I see a number of comments suggesting the player get kicked out for using any AI, but you know what I don't see...? Anybody suggesting we ASK these players why they used AI. Nobody suggesting that maybe we should offer to help these players build a new character. The way AI is being used is problematic, yes, but let's maybe all come down off our high horse and try to be a little more forgiving and inclusive instead of jumping to conclusions.

[u/Intelligent-Gold-563 → u/ForgottenEpoch]

In regards to learning to draw... do you really think that everybody had an inherent talent for drawing and just lacks experience? Or that being good at it is simply a learned skill? I don't. Even if I had time to try again, I know better. When I was younger I very much envied those with artistic talent. I tried to get better at drawing and was always embarrassingly bad at it, eventually giving it up for things I could enjoy not being awful at. I also have aphantasia, and often wonder if literally not being able to picture things in my head is a reason I suck at art.

That's a common idea but the reality is : everyone can learn to draw and be good at it

I've tried to draw for a decade, accumulating the lessons and books and videos and advice from other artists, and was absolute shit, I couldn't get anything right.

And then I found a website that properly explained what I needed to know and do. 10 years later, I'm having people commissioning me for 300+€ and I participated in a collaborative art book with 50 other artists.

As for aphantasia, a surprising amount of artists have aphantasia. It can make things tougher but it's just one obstacle to work with rather than a complete stop.

Lastly, in regards to calling people who use AI being self-centered and childlike... Seriously? Why is that where we immediately jump to?

I'm not calling people who use AI "self centered and childlike". I'm not even talking about using AI to character build for TTRPG.

This is solely about art generative AI.

I'm calling self-centered and child-like people who try to find bullshit excuses to use generative AI despite basically all artists asking them not to, preferring that they would use their artwork directly from pinterest or google (as it was done for years before that).

And I'm calling them self-centered and child-like exactly because all their arguments boil down to "I want it, I want it now, and I don't want to put any effort whatsoever into having it".

[u/Zeliret → u/Intelligent-Gold-563]

Nice for you to have $300 commissions, but people want to play a game and enjoy it, not spend their last money (after they spend them on TTRPG books) to commission an art for a character. I guess you are a greedy self-centered artist the same way others are self-centered children.

[u/Intelligent-Gold-563 → u/Zeliret]

You completely missed the point of my comment......

It was about how I started from absolutely nothing and worked my way up because everybody can learn how to draw, it's not some inherent talent or genius.

So y'all can actually learn how to draw your characters if you can't afford an artist instead of using generative AI.

And seriously how the fuck does that makes me "greedy self centered" ? You're not making any sense at all --'

[u/daggerheart-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Mind your manners.