I'm finally allowed to visit DeviantArt again after 3+ years of being banned and what do I see? Well, this news bulletin...
It looks to me like DeviantArt is allowing AI generated art on their site, despite pretty much most of their users voicing their concerns over how many of the algorithms are programmed to create images from existing images, most likely by artists who don't allow others to use their art, edit, or profit from it, and how little to no thought or creativity is put into their existence.
I've tried quite a few of these AI art generators out of curiosity for what the result may be, and the results were often nightmare fuel. I did like the original work itself, but it's clear the capabilities of these things are very limited. No matter what keywords I used, the end result was either a typical dog you'd see in everyday life, horrific amalgamations of human and canine parts, or just modified paintings of dogs or wolves with vaguely human shaped faces, but still 90% dog. The AI obviously doesn't know what jinmenkens are, but at this point, I'm convinced that people who think the entire species itself is inherently creepy because of how they're portrayed in popular media don't know what real fear is. I don't plan on trying any other monsters or cryptids after that, but I'll talk more about my experience with it later.
I'm not sure how to feel about this in general, but I feel like if DeviantArt is this adamant about allowing computer generated images on their site, they should at least implement a policy that makes submitting these pictures to your scraps a mandatory requirement. Some people say it's not art, therefore it shouldn't be allowed at all, and while I don't think it should be allowed, at least on mainstream art sharing sites where most of the art consists of actual hand-drawn work, I feel like saying it isn't real art would be an insult to the original artists the programmers stole from because it just feels like I'm saying the victims aren't real artists. I place full blame on the programmers who programmed algorithms to use other peoples' art without their consent.
My overall stance is, I don't think AI generated art is really "the future" like the folks who support these programs say it is, and I prefer drawing all of my content by hand. Artificial intelligence won't help me get any animating done, or at least not the animation I feel looks good for my stories, I'm not interested in NFTs or Cryptocurrency, and you guys know me by now. I'm basically an animal who likes to paint pretty pictures that never truly fit into society, I have feelings for nature and while I do still understand human thoughts, needs, and desires, art and computers in my opinion don't mix unless the art was hand drawn in an art program on a computer. Mouse, tablet, paper, doesn't matter. I prefer doing things traditionally. And while my opinion isn't the end-all, be-all in whether or not AI generated imagery takes off in the near future, I just don't like using it, and I tend to try and filter it to the best of my ability.