AI Art vs the Artists

first of all: i respect all the artists from the bottom of my heart and thank you for everything you do!!

I know it hurts your sentiments that these models get trained on your artwork without permission. Yeah... there is not much we can do about it right now.

But does that mean you should really hate AI art? I still see it as a medium of entertainment and inspiration for anyone who knows how to seek from it. You already know it can never match the top-tier stuff you make. Every AI piece has flaws. There is no such thing as a flawless AI artwork, and I honestly don't think you'll see one until we hit AGI—and maybe not even then. Artists are the talents that are the hardest to replace in terms of quality.

Meanwhile AI is already replacing developers and engineers. What do they do? They use it. They don't waste time worrying about what's bound to happen—they keep improving so it doesn't happen to them. They understand the actual use case of AI and treat it like a tool instead of spitting hate on it. That energy is way more productive.

Again, I get it. Knowing that a model is trained on your art and letting people try to replicate your style—even though you spent years perfecting it—is sad. But believe me, you are still better than AI, and that won't change for a long while.

Now, to the youngster rookies who whine on the internet about AI art: here are some facts. Generating a single 1024×1024 image with a diffusion model costs roughly 0.05–0.2 Wh of electricity—about the same as leaving a small LED bulb on for a few seconds—and roughly 20–50 millilitres of water for cooling. Not free, but not the end of the world either.

But tweeting once on Twitter, Discord, or anywhere else isn't free or pure either. Devices are made and trashed so we can doom-scroll all day. Every minute you spend arguing online chews through electricity, server time, and rare materials. If you're going to argue about it, there's a good chance you're wasting more resources than the image you're complaining about. And it makes you sound cringe—as if a kid is crying on the other side of the screen. Man, it's sad.

Here's the thing: whatever you do, you can't stop AI or AI image generation. The best move is to stop wasting resources by crying on the internet. Instead, go lie down, take a breath, and cry your heart out in private if you need to. That way you waste fewer resources while still getting the frustration out. You might even spare an artist who gets bullied because you assumed their art was AI. It wasn't their fault. It wasn't the AI's fault. It was, in fact, your fault. So stop doing that. Stop whining about it. Next time you see an AI artwork you don't like, think about the energy you're about to burn arguing, and think about the chance it's not even AI. Be a better kid and cut it out, okay? Just hit dislike if that's an option. It takes less effort and still gives you some satisfaction. Have some dignity.

Thank you for reading. At the end of the day, I respect artists a lot. Thanks again for everything you do. Rest assured, AI cannot match your level. You're the best. Peace! ✌️