That AI art tool I was ready to hate actually surprised me

I've been rolling my eyes at AI art for like a year now, but my friend kept pushing me to try Midjourney for concept work. Gave in last month and spent 3 hours just messing with prompts, and honestly some of the textures it came up with were better than what I can sketch by hand. I still prefer doing the final pieces myself, but for brainstorming color palettes and backgrounds it's actually pretty legit now. Anyone else find a specific use for AI that changed your mind?

3 comments

3 Comments

piperb9313d ago

idk i kind of like the glossy look for some stuff, @paigep20 maybe it's just me

the_jenny1mo ago

Huh, I gotta say I'm still not sold on it. I tried DALL-E for some background textures and the output just felt... off. Like there's this weird plastic sheen on everything, even when I asked for rough paper or canvas. I'd rather spend that time messing with my own color swatches or pulling references from actual photos. Maybe I'm just stubborn but the final piece always feels more mine when I do it completely by hand.

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paigep201mo ago

Nah I totally get what you mean, it's like that same weird plasticky vibe you see in AI filters on Instagram or those auto-generated product photos. Everything comes out looking like it was dipped in some kind of glossy sealant, even when you specifically ask for matte or rough textures. I've noticed it's the same problem with those AI voice things too, they sound clean but there's this hollow uncanny valley quality that makes you feel like you're talking to a simulation of a human instead of an actual person. It's like these tools are trying so hard to be perfect that they strip away all the little imperfections that make art feel real and lived in. That hands-on process you're talking about, the messing with swatches and pulling from actual photos, that's where the soul of a piece comes from. You're not being stubborn, you're just not willing to trade genuine character for convenience and that's honestly refreshing to see.