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A cartoonist's review of AI art, by Matthew Inman (theoatmeal.com)

submitted 6 months ago by cyrano@piefed.social to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[-] FishFace@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago

I think AI art serves a different purpose from the art we talk about when we say "real art has heart" or "the process of creating the art affected me when I looked at it".

I think about how I feel when I'm scrolling through pictures in some app on my phone - some will be memes, some will be cats, but then some will be there for artistic purposes. As I'm scrolling through, such a picture will spark a brief glimmer of emotion - "huh, that looks neat" for example. I'm not looking close and examining the brush strokes, not thinking about what troubles the artist went through, and not thinking about the process of its creation at all.

In that context I don't think it makes much difference that it's AI-generated. I'd kind of like to know, and I don't want to see a dozen different outputs of the same prompt because whoever hit the button couldn't even apply the modicum of effort require to pick their favourite, but AI-generated images are just as able to instigate that glimmer of "hey that looks cool" that any image can.

[-] agent_nycto@lemmy.world -1 points 6 months ago

Sounds like you're not very skilled at art appreciation.

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[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org -1 points 6 months ago

I was kinda against their argument at first, then I was with them and continued reading. But then they went into all sorts of detail, weighing pros and cons etc., and after reading more than half I evtl. gave up.

It seems all "why AI is bad" articles seem to go this way.

It seems all "why AI is bad" articles unwillingly even support the hype.

Fuck AI "art", it's not art you morons, it's automation, which takes away real people's jobs. The current implementations made by greedy companies also very obviously steal. 'nuff said.

[-] Johanno@feddit.org 0 points 6 months ago

I know that art is an art of it's own and a way to express human creativity.

However people also complained once the loom was invented. It took lots of jobs.

The job argument is usually a stupid one.

The lack of creativity and quality is of course a much better argument against AI art.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org -2 points 6 months ago

The job argument is usually a stupid one.

The what? It's the only one that objectively makes sense.

[-] Johanno@feddit.org -1 points 6 months ago

Ok imagine this:

You are an construction worker. The job is hard but the pay is okay.

Now robots replace your job slowly. They are cheaper and more accurate.

You can now:

Complain about the robots stealing your job
Be happy that you don't have to do the hard work anymore.

Many people will go for 1. But the actual issue is that the social security net isn't existent or so weak that no job means no food.

That is not the fault of technology though.

Remember that when you vote and when politicians want to cut costs by reducing payments for the unemployed.

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[-] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net -1 points 6 months ago

I liked it, personally. I've read plenty of AI bad articles, and I too am burnt out on them. However, what I really appreciated about this was that it felt less like a tirade against AI art and more like a love letter to art and the humans that create it. As I was approaching the ending of the comic, for example, when the argument had been made, and the artist was just making their closing words, I was struck by the simple beauty of the art. It was less the shapes and the colours themselves that I found beautiful, but the sense that I could practically feel the artist straining against the pixels in his desperation to make something that he found beautiful — after all, what would be the point if he couldn't live up to his own argument?

I don't know how far you got through, but I'd encourage you to consider taking another look at it. It's not going to make any arguments you've not heard before, but if you're anything like me, you might appreciate it from the angle of a passionate artist striving to make something meaningful in defiance of AI. I always find my spirits bolstered by work like this because whilst we're not going to be able to draw our way out of this AI-slop hellscape, it does feel important to keep reminding ourselves of what we're fighting for.

[-] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz -1 points 6 months ago

I forgot how loooong Oatmeal cartoons are. I don't think I have made it to the end of one in years.

[-] Evotech@lemmy.world -4 points 6 months ago

Anyone who says ai at is easy has never tried it.

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[+] rumba@lemmy.zip -7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It was a good read until he started with the art is a skill and anyone can do it. He's kind of in his bubble there making assumptions about people. People have various levels of aphantasia, it's not binary. Those that are good at visual imagination do art, people without can't draw a fucking apple from memory reasonable art is beyond many, even if they had the time to dedicate to it.

Everything else he said was on point. well eventually on point, that was a long ride.

Edit: Man, look at all these talented people telling me I could be talented too if I just tried. Some of you might find a shocking revelation in thevfact that not everyone has the ability to perform the skill you perform. Some people, like me, have put several thousand hours into trying to improve my ability to draw, and while it has improved slightly, I am still not capable of drying anything above rudimentary. Talented people find it easy to project their skill onto other people but that's not how it works. It's not just a feeling that you can't do it, it's trying for years and not being able to do anything appreciable with it. My seven-year-old had more skill out of the gate than I had after scoring around with it for 30 years. So keep on telling me that I could just do it if I'd just invest the time and make yourself feel better that you invest at the time. That's truly helpful to me.

[-] Squirrelanna@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 6 months ago

I think your art is probably better than you think. We're all our worst critics.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 0 points 6 months ago

While I appreciate the pep talk, I truly think your heart is in the right place. You just claim that my artwork is better without having any view of my artwork or knowledge of my skill.

This is a very common thing that people do. You can't conceive that someone can't do something, so you blame them on their persistence, or their ID or their ego. I don't know what your skills are, but it feels an awful lot like projection.

It's not like I'm useless at art, I can sculpt 3D objects from 3D objects. I can even, with limited success, use Zbrush.

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this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025

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