I won’t mention which game and creator this is (a game on itchio), as I don’t want witch hunt here. It’s an indie dev after all. If you saw the post "I watched an artist evolve from producing rough art to delivering elite, top-tier artwork” with NSFW content (the one with oversized boobies), then you know what I mean.
What makes me sad and angry is, that I pointed out it looks like Ai was involved in the art creation. The author of the post replied that only background and 10% of the art was created with Ai, and that the game is 50 hours long. Feels very much like it was the developer himself? After I replied with this is problematic, because this was explained only after I mentioned it. There was no Ai mentioned in the itchio page or the post.
What followed was, the post got deleted. I reached out to the Lemmy user and asked in a private message why it was deleted. Shortly after then the Lemmy account are got deleted too.
What to make out of this? I was not toxic in anyway and didn’t saw any toxic comments from others. I didn’t want an indie developer to disappear, if the work is honest and the game is fun. Just don’t hide things. How should a situation like these be handled in the future?
It probably was the dev.
If I had to take a shot in the dark, they may have felt very insecure about their own art, started using AI, then made a post to basically say look how much ‘this person’ improved and their art is ‘good’ now, hoping to get a second look or praise.
Which I get - Publishing art can be weirdly difficult and sometimes you get bad feedback or even no feedback at all, leading you to over-analyze your own work. AI is seen as (and sold as) an easy route to “professional” results.
I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. If it wasn’t you, someone would have eventually pointed out the AI art at which point it would (probably) have to be addressed.
If that dev still lurks here (and making assumptions that it was the dev), I hope they gain confidence in their own art and continue to work on games if that’s their passion.
The ironic thing here is, and it’s already happening, people will be so sick of AI generated things, they will welcome any and all art no matter the quality if it’s indeed made by humans.
For example: I no longer pretend to enjoy my nieces shitty drawings, and have embraced them so much that I hang them in glass fancy frames.
I’m weirdly reminded of the neuromancer book where the protagonist remarks on a bartender who looks rough but doesn’t bodymod himself to look good. He says something like “When good looks are so cheap, there’s something beautiful about being ugly.”
I probably butchered that quote but I can’t find my copy of the book so it is what it is lol.
Anyways it stuck out as a profound thought and it definitely rings true now. It may not be pretty but its genuine and that’s the most important part of art.
It’s part of the opening scene of the book. :)
Yeah that’s the scene. I was definitely off but it seems this was the line I was thinking of:
“In an age of affordable beauty, there was something heraldic about his lack of it.”
Maybe its about time for another reread, it has been awhile.
I memorized Shakespeare Sonnet 68 in high school, it’s basically about how a people without powder or wigs made out of dead people’s hair are much more interesting and beautiful for showing their age. It’s never been more relevant than here:
Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn,
When beauty liv’d and died as flowers do now,
Before the bastard signs of fair were borne,
Or durst inhabit on a living brow;
Before the golden tresses of the dead,
The right of sepulchres, were shorn away,
To live a second life on second head;
Ere beauty’s dead fleece made another gay.
In him those holy antique hours are seen,
Without all ornament, itself and true,
Making no summer of another’s green,
Robbing no old to dress his beauty new;
And him as for a map doth Nature store,
To show false Art what beauty was of yore.
Yeah, crappy looking pencil drawings are something I appreciate seeing now, since big part of why I like art is seeing something that a human did and appreciating what they are capable of.
Thanks, I had a bit remorse, as this outcome was not my intention. I wouldn’t have had a problem, if the Ai disclosure was done beforehand. I don’t like this hiding until caught. I also get it, its hard as an indie developer, but being honest upfront is the first step of trust.
If anything, you shined a light on their actions and they were ashamed enough to hide them. I’d say everything turned out as it should have.
I dont know that we can assume it was shame that caused to hide. Could very well just be fear of judgement. There are very many people who believe there is zero value in a project if any AI is used at all and would discredit all the other work because of it.
I’m not convinced those aren’t the same thing.
They definitely aren’t the same thing. People can be ashamed of things they did years ago and/or have no possibility of being judged for.
Not at all. Someone can absolutely feel justified in the way they did something, but be aware that some people hold different views and not want to bring on the drama or judgement.