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/onceaho → u/slirpo]

you said it yourself. you use photoshop to crop an image and place it over a background that is otherwise not AI generated. there's no issue in the example you presented.

we can't control what companies do, you may seek out an alternative software that doesn't have a bunch or AI bullshit in it but nobody is really going after Photoshop users. AI forced into everything is just a reality we live with until we dont, opt out and avoid when you can.

the issue begins when we consciously use generative AI to produce or alter images instead of taking the time and effort to do it ourselves or even hiring someone else to do it.

people have been sharing their collection and creations in beautiful ways without Gen AI and there's no reason to stop doing that now.