Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for calling this out. If all an author cares about is marketability, well, 83% of readers not even considering their book is quite damning.
But I think you're right to call out the "soft" side and emphasize it. Missed collaborations, missed relationships, and missed support of other creative people are the biggest invisible costs of offloading to AI.
For me the biggest take was that readers will question the author's integrity as a writer if they see an AI generated cover. Which frankly I think they should. We should all aspire to meet certain standards as artists as much as we do in our daily lives.
I'm not Christian but also read your article since the link was originally included in ours. I loved how nuanced it was and your description of it being "an almost X-rated fascination dripping from the overly busy, overly textured, half-drunk, utterly meaningless and mundane outputs of these tools" pretty much sums it up perfectly. When I look at AI generated "art" I feel nothing and at the same time I feel way too much. It almost feels like it's trying to hide the lack of effort and substance behind all its flashiness.
That's really well said--feeling nothing, and at the same time, feeling too much. It's odd to me that some folks would defend the use of AI in literary production, but then again, NaNoWriMo said we were "ablest" for snorting at AI use in writing. We all know how things turned out for NaNoWriMo!
Thanks again for the article. It's a great perspective, and it's great to have real data behind it too. Cheers! :)
I read your article and loved it. Defiantly a more philosophical approach than we took, but I like the mix. I actually tried to link your article in my conclusion, but I was two sentences past the max length so I had to trim it out. Sorry!
Right on! You know me, stuck in the philosophical clouds haha!
I'm glad you took an applied approach. I've seen authors defend AI-generated covers, and it just doesn't sit right.
Honestly, I'm fascinated by the fact that 83% of your respondents wouldn't buy a book with an AI cover. This is the elephant in the room, if you ask me. AI work does *not* pass for the real thing, and it says, "Hey, I'm cheap."
Philosophical clouds are my favorite flotation devices. Actually, I think you made one of the best cases for staying away from AI as a Christian that I've yet read. I thought it was well written. I'm a creative but I'm also very practical so I decided to approach the article from that standpoint. I'll try to find a place to reference yours in my next newsletter.
Wonderful! I appreciate that. We need both the philosophical and the applied, even tactical and entrepreneurial, perspectives on this issue. I see AI use justified all the time as a business accelerator for authors. The data here was interesting because it really undercut that at the root. What's to accelerate if you're unselecting 80-90% of your potential audience?
It would be neat to take this survey to a larger audience, too. I posted the article in a FB group for Christian fantasy authors, and one person pointed out that it was a small sample size. If you ever wanted to set up a Google Form and share it around, I'd be happy to participate. Cheers! :)
I know I commissioned a local cover designer for my first two self-published books, at a cost of £300 and £25O. A 50% deposit, balance paid on completion. I did not hassle the artist over delivery times, which allowed him to still complete other orders to deadlines. Being from Leeds in the UK, he knew Sheffield very well. He provided four rough designs from the information I gave him, then made adjustments to the one I chose.
The price did include formatting on the first book, the second I had learned enough to do that myself.
I do use Daz3d, to create my picture prompts and illustrations even my own cover. Although an Amazon KDP moderator did pull me up on one of my Centauride graphics, even with her back turned away she was not allowed to be topless. A quick fix, and she was good to go.
As regards AI, I do know that free software like, "Glaze," and, "Nightshade," digitally poisons any AI scraping any graphic that has been run through said software.
I also AutoCrit to check my manuscripts, mainly for POV and Tense.
We will have to see what the UK comes up with as a compromise between creatives, and AI industry.
The other interesting information is that Gen AI is so desperate for input it is scraping Gen AI output on the Internet, the result is that it is corrupting itself. So the more Gen AI we upload the more it brings its downfall.
Thanks for reading! And for your thoughtful response. It’s an ever changing conversation as AI rapidly evolves and we are just starting to consider its implications. I wish you the best on your authoring journey!
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for calling this out. If all an author cares about is marketability, well, 83% of readers not even considering their book is quite damning.
But I think you're right to call out the "soft" side and emphasize it. Missed collaborations, missed relationships, and missed support of other creative people are the biggest invisible costs of offloading to AI.
For Christian creators, I believe the standard is more specific. I shared some thoughts in this article. Cheers! https://open.substack.com/pub/leovaughn/p/using-genai-is-a-kind-of-infidelity?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=el4qy
Thank you for reading Leo!
For me the biggest take was that readers will question the author's integrity as a writer if they see an AI generated cover. Which frankly I think they should. We should all aspire to meet certain standards as artists as much as we do in our daily lives.
I'm not Christian but also read your article since the link was originally included in ours. I loved how nuanced it was and your description of it being "an almost X-rated fascination dripping from the overly busy, overly textured, half-drunk, utterly meaningless and mundane outputs of these tools" pretty much sums it up perfectly. When I look at AI generated "art" I feel nothing and at the same time I feel way too much. It almost feels like it's trying to hide the lack of effort and substance behind all its flashiness.
That's really well said--feeling nothing, and at the same time, feeling too much. It's odd to me that some folks would defend the use of AI in literary production, but then again, NaNoWriMo said we were "ablest" for snorting at AI use in writing. We all know how things turned out for NaNoWriMo!
Thanks again for the article. It's a great perspective, and it's great to have real data behind it too. Cheers! :)
I read your article and loved it. Defiantly a more philosophical approach than we took, but I like the mix. I actually tried to link your article in my conclusion, but I was two sentences past the max length so I had to trim it out. Sorry!
Right on! You know me, stuck in the philosophical clouds haha!
I'm glad you took an applied approach. I've seen authors defend AI-generated covers, and it just doesn't sit right.
Honestly, I'm fascinated by the fact that 83% of your respondents wouldn't buy a book with an AI cover. This is the elephant in the room, if you ask me. AI work does *not* pass for the real thing, and it says, "Hey, I'm cheap."
Philosophical clouds are my favorite flotation devices. Actually, I think you made one of the best cases for staying away from AI as a Christian that I've yet read. I thought it was well written. I'm a creative but I'm also very practical so I decided to approach the article from that standpoint. I'll try to find a place to reference yours in my next newsletter.
Wonderful! I appreciate that. We need both the philosophical and the applied, even tactical and entrepreneurial, perspectives on this issue. I see AI use justified all the time as a business accelerator for authors. The data here was interesting because it really undercut that at the root. What's to accelerate if you're unselecting 80-90% of your potential audience?
It would be neat to take this survey to a larger audience, too. I posted the article in a FB group for Christian fantasy authors, and one person pointed out that it was a small sample size. If you ever wanted to set up a Google Form and share it around, I'd be happy to participate. Cheers! :)
Interesting article.
I know I commissioned a local cover designer for my first two self-published books, at a cost of £300 and £25O. A 50% deposit, balance paid on completion. I did not hassle the artist over delivery times, which allowed him to still complete other orders to deadlines. Being from Leeds in the UK, he knew Sheffield very well. He provided four rough designs from the information I gave him, then made adjustments to the one I chose.
The price did include formatting on the first book, the second I had learned enough to do that myself.
I do use Daz3d, to create my picture prompts and illustrations even my own cover. Although an Amazon KDP moderator did pull me up on one of my Centauride graphics, even with her back turned away she was not allowed to be topless. A quick fix, and she was good to go.
As regards AI, I do know that free software like, "Glaze," and, "Nightshade," digitally poisons any AI scraping any graphic that has been run through said software.
I also AutoCrit to check my manuscripts, mainly for POV and Tense.
We will have to see what the UK comes up with as a compromise between creatives, and AI industry.
Thank you for reading Graham!
I didn't know software like this existed! I wish there was something similar to Glaze to protect written art as well :)
The other interesting information is that Gen AI is so desperate for input it is scraping Gen AI output on the Internet, the result is that it is corrupting itself. So the more Gen AI we upload the more it brings its downfall.
How ironic is that?
That is mind blowing ! It’s eating itself from the inside. What will happen down the line do you think?
Hopefully it will degrade to a point that it is unusable, or the tech company runs out of funding.🤔
And I’ve also heard about those programs that befuddle AI “learning”software and I’m all for that 😂
Thanks for reading! And for your thoughtful response. It’s an ever changing conversation as AI rapidly evolves and we are just starting to consider its implications. I wish you the best on your authoring journey!
Thoughtful and very well written, really appreciate this perspective.
Thank you Keegan!
Thanks for reading!