Thinking back again to an artist publicly insulting and blocking his would-be commissioner for using AI slop in lieu of a reference. Yeah, there are some problems with our current actualization of generative AI. However, I find the diatribe about it tedious, narrow, and maybe a bit conceited. After letting this marinate for a couple years, I think I can accurately state exactly what it is that bothers me about how shrill and rabid the opposition to generative AI is.

My generation had the pleasure of experiencing the death of the artisan. Scumbags in ivory towers manipulated the flow of money, hiring overseas sweat shops and using financial pressure to secure commercial compliance so that they could pocket the difference; for everyone else on the planet, life got substantially worse. Creativity and skill were drained from countless crafts. In a market that's global for corporations but local for the actual population, those who fit best into the role of artisan quickly found themselves in a grossly over-saturated luxury market that was unlikely to let a beginner break even.

So, when an artist takes a belligerently haughty attitude towards anything and anyone even adjacent to generative AI, I wonder just a little bit what dollar store they got their kitchen knives from. Were they there for the cutler, the cabinetmaker, the confectioner, the potter, the glassblower? Of course not, because the distribution of wealth won't allow it. But as soon as business finds a way to mass-commodify illustration, the tears that the rest of us had to swallow turn to unbridled and largely indiscriminate vitriol. And for the record, the correct response to receiving an AI-generated reference pic is: "Thank you, but before moving forward using this generic and kind of problematic reference, might I interest you in a commissioning a professionally made alternative?"

"But—but—but... copyright!!!" I assure you, corporate copyright abuse has been no more kind to craftspeople than it has to other artists (see: Temu). Our goddamned civilization has been stolen—don't unload on your fellow wastelanders for scavenging the ruins.