Again, some laugh and tears about AI art, as news about new developments are coming at faster pace. It shows that there are no limits to this technology, as long it finds enough material to study from. Art (or any image) displayed on the internet is the raw, free and quasi-infinite material to feed those incredible engines. The next step will be generalized interactive tools to edit images in real time, and then graphic artists will really be entering in the extinction zone (not only illustrators, but also photographs, models, designers or all related jobs). Some publishers have expressed some choice not to use AI-based images, but it's a desperate move against the coming tsunami.

I recently worked on a poster just like any AI, browsing hundreds of pulp covers, selecting and copying some elements, in a very specific graphic style. It took me days, when a public program would output dozen of images in minutes (and certainly with a better quality). Any "clever" client would quickly choose between my hourly rates (reflecting years of studies) or a cheap annual subscription allowing an unlimited number of images to choose from, except to protect a dying breed.

As noted in this tweet (it's about  unfolding/layouting UVs, a long and boring process needed to "paint" maps on complex 3D models), AI would be needed for some complex and time-consuming tasks. BUT unlike art, finding the material to learn from is not as easy, and professionals in the fields like me won't share this kind on specialized datas to the world. Training AI would then require time and money, for this kind of specific jobs. So we have now today's engines, based on the pedant artists'weakness: showing their art to the world. 

I don't pose myself as a  modern luddite, as I'm not fighting a tool. A tool doesn't come with needed raw material AND final product in a single cheap bundle, giving you the fake impression you're  in complete control. My career as illustrator/comic creators does not feed me, and don't feel "threatened," but I can't help being depressed for younger generations trying to enter the graphic creation world, which was an already tough and competitive universe.

We'll check the assertion "AI is a shoggoth" later.

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