As I was painting the background I found myself thinking how easy it would be to drop an AI generated one in behind things to save myself time. I’m no fan of AI, but I realize that it isn’t going anywhere. Pandora’s box has been opened and, in the US at least, our lawmakers are barely capable of legislating things that have existed for the entirety of their lives. And I mean just BARELY. The level of ignorance we tolerate in our elected officials is staggering, but let’s not get stuck on that.
I know that AI is something all people will have to contend with from now on, and I feel the pull of laziness that something like a magic do my work for me button creates. For me the problem, if you want to call it that, is that my art is so low grade, or perhaps distinctly unskilled if you prefer, that any AI things I drop in around it throws my lack of skill into STARK contrast. I have to maintain a certain level of mediocrity so that my work at least remains cohesive. AI art even at its worst is already better than I am at my best. So, in some sense, I’m locked out of taking advantage of it. At least as far as my comic is concerned. I suppose that’s a good thing in so far as it will at least keep my work “pure”. I’m not sure the purity of my work is work defending, but it is unquestionably human in its myriad flaws.
I always assumed that the robots would come and take away jobs from field laborers, or coders, or the kinds of things people don’t enjoy doing. When they finally arrived they started by taking away the things that are the most human, like art, and music… How desolate. A dystopia that no one saw coming, and yet it is so perfectly miserable that I can think of no better representation of a pure dystopia. A world where humans toil for the robots that make the things that pacify us. Truly I value the gift of Iluvatar in this moment. In the far green country there will be no robots. Not yet anyway…

And on that cheery note I welcome you to another week of whatever it is that I do here. I hope you have a nice Monday. Please take note of the support links if you see the value of this human’s struggle. I will bring more of it to you on Wednesday. Until then, fight for the users.

25 Comments

I do appreciate the work you put into the whole of your comic, including your backgrounds, and I’m glad you didn’t use AI here. The human element is part of my enjoyment.

Thank you for your work Jackie. As I said before it has gotten me through many a tough time.

It’s not a “pure” dystopia… unfortunately it’s a bunch of problematic solutions and shortcuts with as many viewpoints to argue against each other as it has both positive and negative utilities.

Instead of elaborating further down that web of rabbit holes…

for now, let’s celebrate the enjoyment and interestingness this comic gives us. I already want to talk to Carol about how to run with her idea (don’t worry, I’ve read the El Goonish Shive FAQ). Wanting to engage to that level with a fictional character, it’s refreshing.

Can I just say that I was planning on commending you on your trees, for I quite like them, before I read your post, and now I feel like I should really commend you on your trees. You are no Rembrandt, but you are also too hard on yourself.

I’m really digging the trees too. Imagine how much better Jackie’s trees (ok, fine, the other backgrounds as well) could get if we just gave him a 24×18 iPad!

Trees look good to me. They arguably look better than the characters, at least in the sense that there’s more realistic lighting and shadows. I don’t think it matters; style matters more than technical skill.

And yeah, AI is here to stay. However, the AI sector is currently over-valued by orders of magnitude. Several companies, and Peter Thiel, recently pulled out investment, expecting a crash with all these massive AI computing centers being built. It is not as rosy as the tech bros say. But yeah, we will be dealing with it. I think too many people have miserable views of AI instead of using it as a tool, like any other. Video games that could create dynamic NPCs, with voices, with generated ambient dialogue, would be pretty sweet, for example. A writer who can’t draw making a webcomic with AI, enabling him to tell his story, would be great. Researchers being able to collate massive amounts of data in minutes could be very helpful. Like the internet itself, it’s a disruptive technology that will throw many people out of work, but will also allow us to be far more productive than ever before. We just have to be prepared to deal with the consequences, instead of being Luddites shouting “AI slop!” into the void, like a boomer complaining about vidya games and smart phones.

Some good points. AI is a tool, and like any tool it does some things well, others not so much. Since it’s such a new tool we’re still figuring out how to use it. I think the biggest boosters and harshest critics have both oversold its potential for good or harm.
When it comes to art, I think AI is best thought of as a supplement to human creators, not a replacement. Artists have been adapting to new tools ever since the first cave man made a mark by rubbing a rock with a charred stick. I’ve heard from a couple of commercial artists that AI has made them more productive. By having clients use AI to make a sketch of sorts, they get a clearer idea of what they want and don’t have to revise as much to get to the finished product.

And let’s be honest; some art used in stuff like marketing is, by design, generic and unimpressive. Having AI do it isn’t really losing much because it was barely “art” to begin with. Some of my vendors actually use AI art for stuff they are pitching to US, because whatever, it just looks colorful and bright, that’s all they care about.

Your art reminds me of some cartoon styles and so it feels comfortable to me, if that makes sense. It always brightens my day to read your latest page. I’m not an artist myself (closest I got was photography) so most of my attempts at praise may fall flat, but I’m glad your art is real and yours.

It’s incredibly funny when you point out to AI Bros that what they call AI isn’t that at all.

It’s basically a search and refinement software.

I mean. It uses parameters then mocks what it can to produce what you want. It’s not an AI at all.

Carol is missing her freckles.

I like your trees tho

If shadenfreude makes you feel any better, AI is also taking away coders’ jobs. And I think you may be able to get a gen-AI to imitate your own art style by showing it some examples of your work. (Whether you *should* do that is a different question.) Unrelated: I’m curious to hear what Carol’s going to give up in favor of God be With Brew.

Hey brother, art isn’t about photorealism or even raw technical skill. You have a style, you’re an artist, AI isn’t “better” than you it’s just different.

Jackie, your art (which is first rate all on its own) will ALWAYS be better than the soulless slop that any art-stealing LLM vomits up. Because you actually worked to create it. You pour your heart and soul into creating BF and we love you for it. I hope you will never ever compare yourself to AI “art” again and feel like you come off second best. The very idea is patently ridiculous.

What Phil said, plus the remark that in the olden days, as Punk Rock was fresh and new, it proved quite audibly that dexterity and soul are never in a strictly proportional relationship, when it comes to Art. Thanks to AI we have the unquestionable certainty that something intricate and artful absolutely can be bland and dull; that’s not exactly news, but now there’s no human to blame. Just maths and the machinery to evaluate it. There’s no self, no soul, quite literally nothing to see but tacky wastefulness.

Unlike your comic pages, which are always full of Live.

Argh. I meant to write full of LIFE.

I had much the same discussion. It’s time to stop trying to order the ocean not to touch our shoreline and time to start figuring out how to make the damn thing USEFUL.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the AI thing, mainly just here to thank you. Thank you so much for this comic. as I’ve been reading through the archive i’ve connected with this so much and I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the comic.

Hey, been reading forever, and I do mean forever. Maybe a couple years since the start. Thank you for keeping on keeping on.

DQ closed down here I live. it was the only franchise not in a gas station, so lunch options dropped precipitously. A new place opened up in the old Pizza Hut- a bar and grill. I paid $20 for a bowl of macaroni and cheese. It had pulled pork and green chilies and was delicious, but $20! And now my Subway coupons have expired. I’m gonna starve!

mmmmm. Sooubway…

Besides, they’re such happy little trees…

I went through a very similar ai crisis just this week. I was looking at an art of mine on my celphone. And, there is an ‘ai’ button. I hesitated, and clicked it. It ‘stole’ my work, and made it perfect. Perfect lighting, perfect anatomy, etc. This froze me for days as I tried to process it. It is better than me. And faster. And free.

And generic.

2918 Account For Desire.

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