I love art. I love creativity. I love looking at something that captivated me, looking for who is the creator and wonder, how did this person created this? Why this way? Why not something else? I watch movies, shows, or whatever and when I am impressed by how well it is made, I love to think “wow, a person thought about this!”. And thank god for podcasts, because now I can listen to these people talk about how they create, how they wrote that scene, how they adapted that on the spot and so on. This adds so much to my enjoyment of the art. No matter what kind.
And the great thing about the Indie RPG scene is that I get to do that too. I am lucky enough to actually be able to directly ask some of my favorite creators about their art. Their work. And there’s always a story. And it’s always unique. And that adds even more value to these games and to this community as a whole. At least for me. And probably for some other people.
However, I can’t help but think AI generated images are not comparable to this. To human art. To human creation. It might be technically sound. It might look stunning even. But it lacks something for me. It lacks humanity. It lacks the simple possibility of explaining its choices of tone, composition, balance, etc. It’s choices have nothing to do with itself, with its story. It’s a pattern they learned and can do really well. That’s not interesting to me. I want the human experience. I want to connect with the creators. Art is not merely the product, but the process too.
There’s a passage in Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work, and how story is so important in art. It asks you to imagine you enter a room with two beautiful paintings of a harbor at sunset. They are, as far as you can see, identical. But then you discover one was painted in the 17th century by a Dutch master and the other, although equally beautiful and technically astonishing, was a forgery made by an art student last week. It then asks you which one looks better now? Which one do you wanna take home?
That’s exactly how I feel about AI generated images. They are technically great. But I want more than that. That’s not actually what matters the most even. There are artists whose work I genuinely love, and who are very unlikely to “draw” as well as these machines. But who cares? I don’t. It’s not about that.
That’s why I played with the idea of making a “Made By Humans” label to use on my stuff. I believe in informing others, who like me look for that humanity in the things they consume, that they can be sure everything created for this thing I made has a human behind it. Making decisions, expressing themselves, and putting a little bit of them in there. That’s all.
This is a “campaign” (is it? Really?) to support, work with, and celebrate artists. Humans who use their creativity, skill, story, heart, and humanity to create something from where once there was nothing. These people are wizards! REALLY!
What this is not is a campaign to persecute others who think otherwise. I am not here pointing my finger at anyone for using AI generated images in their stuff. That’s their choice. I have the same right to make my own. And to make others aware of it. I would like to know. And people are asking already. I don’t think they should be guessing.
A friend asked me what’s the point of this #MadeByHumans, and if I believed this AI image generators can be stopped. For me the question is: Do they need to be stopped for me to continue to support, work and celebrate human creators?
I don’t think so. We can do it right now. Hell. We can continue to do what we have been doing. I don’t see a reason to change. Do you?
Another person asked me “Will there be enough demand for human generated art for it to remain a viable profession, particularly in the fields of graphic design and commercial illustration?”. Was there demand a few months ago? Talking about OUR COMMUNITY here! Was there? If it was, there’s no reason for this to go away. It’s on us. It’s our choice.
In the end, I know AI generated images are inevitable in this world we live in. Most people are more interested in the result and not the process. That’s a great parable of modern times to be honest. A great cause of anxiety. But I digress. Yes, it is inevitable that others will use it. But I choose not to. It does not interest me. It doesn’t interest a lot of us.
So that’s it! I want to support, work with, and celebrate artists. If you feel the same, join me. Or not. Do your own thing.
Anyway, I will be using the #MadeByHumans hashtag when I talk about my work and the work of other artists I work with.
And I would like to invite everyone who is working on a similar idea, who has made a logo about this, or who would like to contribute ideas to reach out. I want to create a repository of resources, maybe with all the logos, and who knows, maybe a big spreadsheet with concat of humans who work in this community and share these ideas and are looking for work.
Oh, and I would like to point you to a very interesting article about this whole thing. It talks about the removal of humanity from art as an optimization. Very, very interesting.
https://dansheehan.substack.com/p/the-altar-of-optimization
BTW! I went down this rabbit hole after seeing the great Gavriel Quiroga (creator of Warpland and Neurocity, and fellow Latin American Game Designer) posted his version of this logo/idea.
F.A.Q.
- If someone uses the X function inside the Y app? Can they use this then?
A: The idea of #MadeByHumans is that humans were an integral part of all decision involved on the creation of that thing. If there’s something else making decisions for you, than it’s not made by humans. A tool is something that assists you in manifesting your will. But you still do the work. You still create it. If this so called “tool” is doing the work in your place, and has a “will of its own” (deciding on tone, shapes, composition, style or something else), then it’s not a mere tool. In the end, this distinction cannot be based on specific functions or techniques, as these will inevitably change over time. In the end it’s again about humanity and the decisions, choices and will behind the creation. If they are not controlled by a human, then it’s not suitable for #MadeByHumans. - Where can I find these logos to use on my creations?
A: Right here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14H6WmYss4ZHXYZ3YkNklVKx-IqRXehMT?usp=sharing