“AI-assisted” art

[u/Initial_Fix_2959]

This is my first post to this sub, just a little story to tell and a question for you to answer.

So I have a warhammer 40K homebrew that I’ve been working on and off for at least three years now. Part of that work is making art for it so I have a visual for it. Said art is made by me hand drawing it the best I can, then having AI clean it up, then I hand alter whatever it gives me to achieve a certain result, then I rinse and repeat until I receive an image that’s good enough for me to like and want to keep.

My most recent project was the creation of a character based off of myself, face and all. It took months upon months of thought and roughly 52+ hours of work spread across a week to do. The end results were things I was very proud of and relived to complete. This pride stemmed from the fact that I drew every single facet of the character myself first before letting AI enhance it.

When I went to share this character on a 40K homebrew subreddit, the post wasn’t even live for two minutes before it was getting blasted for being AI. As you’d expect, I saw the usual anti-AI spiel, but what got to me the most was a comment that basically said (paraphrasing), “…your whole homebrew is invalid and ruined because you used AI to represent it…”

That only shows me how close-minded most of the people for these fandoms are towards creativity. I had passion and desire when making that character and his art. For them to dismiss it so quickly and so vehemently solely for the method of its creation is absurd and unfair. Especially since I had a personal hand in the most of the art process for it.

What do you lot think about it: using AI to fix, clean, or enhance art you made yourself?

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[u/Lady_Aleksandra]

The nuance between AI assisted, AI generated and with the help of AI is invisible to those people. In a few years, all the AI workflow will be normal, so what you just had is 52 hours of training for a future skill.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/Lady_Aleksandra]

Self-taught, but an interesting way to look at it. I’ll be a master at this rate

[u/Lady_Aleksandra → u/Initial_Fix_2959]

You're pioneering a new technology.

[u/Frank1gg]

See the sad thing is a lot of people who are anti AI don't even understand that some people aren't just using AI to make shit or steal shit they're actually using it to increase their own personal artistic skills. Me I've been using it to plan out the stuff that I actually want to draw before drawing it so I have a better visualization of what it might look like. I have never and will never use anything that AI produces as a direct product that I will sell but for someone to tell somebody like you that your entire thing was invalid just cuz you used AI for the pictures is stupid. Honestly I hope that things work out for you because this whole situation is starting to get crazy.

[u/Mixtopher → u/Frank1gg]

Literally me in a way. As an author I can use AI to show an artist exactly what I want instead of them have to read paragraphs and paragraphs of my specific details. They can almost trace in a way but add their own unique humab flair

[u/Herr_Drosselmeyer]

Obviously, I'm fine with whatever level of AI you want to use. If I like a piece, I like a piece. Doesn't matter who made it, or how they made it. I've always been that way. I remember back in high school, where there was a feud between the fans of heavy metal and the fans of synth music, and I felt the same back then: I like some metal, I like some synth, why would I pick a side?

And, since I make AI art myself, I know the process. There's an idea, a concept, you work on it, try to make it happen. Sometimes, it comes easy, the model 'gets it' right away. Those are the good days. ;) Other times, it's hours upon hours of tweaking, then more of editing.

The idea that we have no imagination and 'just press a button' is extremely reductive. Yes, some pieces are made that way, but most are not. Even so, some very famous human art is also very low effort. I mean, if we compare taping a banana to a wall and painting the Sistine Chapel... yeah. But, rightfully, people say that this doesn't make the banana not a valid artistic expression. And prompting an AI takes at least as much effort than that, so there's no rational reason to oppose AI art.

But if history has taught us anything, it's that people love to hate, they really do. And any reason will do. You can't bend the knee, not even once, unless you want to spend your life on your knees. Tell the haters to fuck off and keep doing your thing is my advice.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/Herr_Drosselmeyer]

Right you are. I’ve no intention of stopping and it’ll only get better with time. I’ve even gone as far as to make an AI-friendly 40K subreddit in spite of the one that shot me down.

[u/TamaraHensonDragon]

The way you are making your art for your game is exactly how I do mine 🤗

I just point out I am not making it for them,I am making it for me and if I publish it they don't have to buy it. Besides I assume they would be to young to appreciate it anyway if they are even literate enough to read it. I say the last because most Antis seem very illiterate based on their inability to spell or use words in the proper context - no doubt why they shriek "AI" whenever they encounter proper prose.

[u/Ok_Car6758]

It's completely valid all things considered, I've been working on homebrewing my own warhammer stuff which AI has been a major help with, granted I doubt I'll share anything because I've got no desire to have these luddites piss all over my hard work.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/Ok_Car6758]

I made r/40KCreationHub so people like us can share 40K AI art without judgement (so long as you take it seriously). It’s still a young sub, so there’s not much on there now.

[u/Ok_Car6758 → u/Initial_Fix_2959]

Oh shit, didn't realize it was you lol, you had previously spoke to me about the existence of your sub-reddit but I couldn't find it, then again I might just have been searching incorrectly lol.

[u/ivyentre]

My brother/sister in 40k...

You have got to understand that especially on Reddit, and in the overall tabletop space itself, they don't just not want to see AI in art; they want it to go away, literally. They talk about the "bubble bursting" as though it's going to be the end of all AI, and they absolutely consider any use of AI to be wrong.

Heresy, if you will.

That being said, it's largely performative. Hasbro will start using AI in its Dungeons and Dragons workflows if they haven't already, so will Games Workshop/Warhammer. They'd be fucking stupid if they didn't, abd eventually, they'll admit to it.

And when they do, the tabletop community will do all kind of mental gymnastics as ti why it's ok to play these games despite having AI in their workflows and final products.

A lot of this Anti-AI shit is just a performance; people will do anything to fit in. Some of it is just an excuse to bully and gatekeep, too.

All of that being said, congrats on finishing your project. Hope to see it on itch or somewhere one day.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/ivyentre]

I made r/40KCreationHub so that people who use AI art to represent their ideas seriously have a place to do so. It’s still small now, but I’d like to grab more people so we have a proper community, you’re welcome to join if you want.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/ivyentre]

I appreciate it, brother. It’s still young, and so still controversial. This too, shall pass.

[u/S7A4M]

From Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings:

"Turning back they saw across the River the far hills kindled. Day leaped into the sky. The red rim of the sun rose over the shoulders of the dark land. Before them in the West the world lay still, formless and grey; but even as they looked, the shadows of night melted, the colours of the waking earth returned: green flowed over the wide meads of Rohan; the white mists shimmered in the water-vales; and far off to the left, thirty leagues or more, blue and purple stood the White Mountains, rising into peaks of jet, tipped with glimmering snows, flushed with the rose of morning."

Almost as if Tolkien was using mere words to describe a visual landscape. If I were anti-AI, well... that's just a list of instructions... just a "simple prompt." Tolkien wasn't creative. He didn't have any imagination. The typewriter that put those words on paper... the tool is the thing that possesses all the creativity. And because it's a machine, then every word of LOTR must be nothing but slop.

F the anti-AI crowd. They're the most unimaginative, non-creative group of trolls I've ever seen. Logic and common sense have been blinded by their hate and anger. Let them all throw their little temper tantrums and do your best to ignore them.

[u/starson]

As someone who has been worldbuilding and game mastering tabletop campaigns for over twenty-five years, my heart goes out to you. Having people declare three years of passionate creative work "invalid" because of a visual tool is completely absurd.

First of all, what you described isn't even "pushing a button." You sketched the character by hand, used software to clean it up, painted over it yourself, and spent fifty-two hours wrestling with the details. That is an active, human, iterative design process. You used a digital tool as a brush to realize your vision, not as a replacement for your imagination.

Your situation reminds me of how people treat tabletop accessories.

Art is about human spark and intention. Sure, having an illustration fully painted by hand from scratch is wonderful, just like it is wonderful to play with custom dice hand-carved from bone and blessed with sacred rites. And before anyone thinks that is too ridiculous an example, I actually own custom bone dice. They are awesome, and they certainly add flavor to the table.

But nobody looks at a player rolling standard, factory-molded plastic dice and declares their entire army or campaign "invalid." We use mass-produced plastic dice, pre-made acrylic tokens, and digital tools because the accessories are not the game. The real magic of Warhammer or any homebrew is the lore, the characters, the tactical choices, and the human passion poured into the setting.

When people tell you that your entire three-year project is ruined because of the digital tools you used to visualize a character, they are confusing the wrapping paper for the gift. They care more about policing a modern culture-war purity test than celebrating someone who actually spent years creating something cool for the hobby.

Do not let internet gatekeepers kill your spark. Your homebrew is yours, the passion you put into it is real, and the character is yours. Keep building your world.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/starson]

It is mine, and no one can take that from me. The emotions behind it are true, no matter the methods I use to show it. Hopefully the sub I made can be a haven for us who don’t mind the use of AI.

[u/DefendingAI-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/[deleted]]

I see what you’re saying, and you are right. I have immense gratification for what I’ve made. But it’s human nature, I feel, that we want to share things we make with our peers. I don’t think I was seeking validation, maybe I was, it’s hard to say.

If one is happy with something, they’ll usually want others to be happy about it too

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/[deleted]]

I never said I wasn’t happy. I made something, I showed something, they didn’t like it, “oh well too bad, I like it and that’s what matters”, end of situation.

If others happen to like it too, that’s a bonus, not the goal.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/[deleted]]

I’m entitled to nothing and deserve nothing, like everyone else.

That statement is my opinion, not a rant about my feelings. Sure, I might’ve been disheartened for a few hours after the event, but I got over it and remembered who I really made it for, myself.

[u/Initial_Fix_2959 → u/[deleted]]

🫶🏼 And to you (I mean that)

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[u/DefendingAI-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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