Full title: "038 - [The Rise of AI Art and the Toxicity of the Art Community]" AI art. It's practically unavoidable at this point. You see it everywhere you go, and it's destroying the internet at this point. But have you ever looked past the whole layer of "AI good vs AI bad", and truly tried to look into why this sudden rise in AI art has happened? Well, I have. Now, I tried to have as much of an unbiased view as I can, but please note I might be a bit biased at times. First off, really think about why someone would use AI to make art. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who uses AI. The first things that come to mind are probably laziness, lack of creativity, or lack of skill. While these are certainly true for some AI users, I think there's a different reason: the toxicity of the art community. Let me explain. If you really look into the art community on any platform, you'll notice there's definitely a lot of poking fun at or even bullying someone because of their art style, or because their art is "bad". Artists (not all of them) and even regular people only truly seem to appreciate an artist's work when it reaches a level they deem as "good enough". Beginner artists seem to be heavily discouraged from making art for these reasons. Plus, the art community definitely seems to have a bit of a problem with valid criticism and straight up going "your art is trash". This, it seems, is why people resort to AI art. Why spend months, potentially years, trying to make something that will get laughed at when you can just type in a few words into a computer and get way better results? It isn't a matter of people who aren't "born talented" (which isn't a thing, talent is something you gain over time), it's a matter of people who had potential yet were discouraged by the community that was supposed to be a safe space to share their creations with others. While there's no immediate fix to this AI epidemic, the best we can do is to stay mindful that beginner artists, no matter how bad their art is, are trying and putting in the effort to improve. Just put yourself into someone else's shoes before leaving a mean comment under their harmless post. Anyways, that's it. Have a great day/night everyone! -Aspen
