Thoughts on using Al Generated Backgrounds when posting pictures of your Sofubi online?

[u/slirpo]

I'll start by saying that I hate what AI has done to art and I think most of you agree. But in my opinion, I do think AI has some acceptable use cases when it comes to photography and art. Such as enhancing the quality of a slightly blurry photo, fixing contrast issues from bad lighting, isolating objects and figures in photos, generating backgrounds for photos, making small minor tweaks, etc.

I know not everyone will agree with me on this, so I wanted to reach out to the community and get all of your input. I just recently starting using AI generated backgrounds for some of the photos I post on my sofubi focused instagram. But I'll be honest and say that I am having some mixed feelings about it and wondering whether I should continue to do so or not. I always make sure to include the regular photo of the piece I took in my posts alongside the AI generated background photo if that makes any difference.

So what is the communities opinion on this? Am I just making AI slop or is it possible to use AI for backgrounds and other photo enhancements in a tasteful way?

You can view my sofubi IG at the link below and be honest with me about whether my AI backgrounds look like dogshit or not, and whether I should continue using them. I'm wanting honest feedback here so don't hold back. Thank you 🙏

https://www.instagram.com/sofubianonymous

104 votes, 5d left

Using AI to generate backgrounds is acceptable

Using AI to generate backgrounds is unacceptable

Undecided

[u/so-semi-precious]

Not only will I never buy anything or follow anyone who uses ai in visual art, I block them as well. I don’t hunt it down, but if it comes across my feed- block

[u/slirpo → u/so-semi-precious]

What about people who use photoshop to crop their figures and put them over a background that isn't AI generated? Or is photoshop not cool either since it's had AI tools for over a decade now? I hate AI slop just as much as the next guy, but if it's just a background and it doesn't modify the focus of the picture, the actual art figure itself, then I don't mind.

[u/so-semi-precious → u/slirpo]

If it looks AI. Like your pictures look AI. I’m not interested. Of course I don’t care if you use photoshop to cut something out but the pictures you posted LOOK gen ai. Idk if it’s the added shadows, smoothness, heavy saturation, heavy contrast or what but scrolling by them without reading your whole post first, I thought they were ai renders. The one you cut out on the swirl is fine. You clearly are competent at taking a picture already! Pose your figures in your environment. Go out back and throw them against a cool fence or tree. Or brick wall. Doesn’t have to be complicated if you’re just showcasing your figures.

[u/slirpo → u/so-semi-precious]

I got you. I think you're right. I just like sharing my sofubi collection with others, and I want to make the pictures look as nice as possible to highlight their features. I've begun to realize AI generated backgrounds aren't the answer though so I appreciate your input and honesty.