Title: Apparently, using AI art means I'm lazy and should be ashamed of myself?

[u/Usagi_Rabbit]

Title: Apparently, using AI art means I'm lazy and should be ashamed of myself?

I recently posted a Synthesizer V music video on YouTube. I handled the vocals, instruments, programming and video myself, while the illustrations were AI-generated. I clearly stated that in the description, so I wasn't trying to hide or misrepresent anything.

Someone complimented the illustrations, and I replied that they had taken quite a bit of time because there were many corrections and do-overs.

Another person then commented:

"quite literally ai but whatever floats your boat"

I pointed out that I'd already disclosed that the illustrations were AI-generated. I also explained that I'd started working on them last year and had to redo and correct things repeatedly because the results weren't quite right.

Their response was:

"how the fuck does it take you a year to use ai, if you are this much of a lazy person as to where you cant even prompt something, you should be ashamed."

That's what annoyed me. Initially, I wasn't bothered by their first comment, but the personal insults were unnecessary.

The problem wasn't simply writing prompts. The AI kept making stupid mistakes: extra fingers, incorrect anatomy and other details that needed fixing. Sometimes it took repeated attempts to get the result I wanted. I also work on several things at once, so it's not as though I spent an entire year doing nothing but generating these illustrations.

I never claimed to have drawn the images myself. I was transparent about using AI, and I wanted the visuals to look right rather than just accepting the first output and calling it finished.

So what exactly am I supposed to be ashamed of? Using AI openly and taking the time to correct its mistakes?

I eventually told them I wasn't going to explain my entire workflow. I've since hidden them from my channel because I have better things to do than argue with someone who resorts to insults.

I'm curious how others here would have handled this. Do some people genuinely assume that AI-generated artwork is always a matter of entering one prompt and immediately getting a finished result?

[u/Fancy-Plenty6712]

The people who assume that one prompt is enough have obviously never tried doing anything like that themselves. There is nothing to be ashamed of OP. There is just a lot of folks out there who spend too much time making hateful remarks instead of spreading positivity.

[u/Usagi_Rabbit → u/Fancy-Plenty6712]

Yeah, I just don't like that it devolved into that. He probably didn't even read the video description which clearly states,
Vocals: Synth V: Mai (V2), Kasane Teto (V1)
Slap Bass, Fretless Bass, Guitar, Programming, Video: Usagi_Rabbit
Music and Lyrics: Imawano Kiyoshiro+Sakamoto Ryuichi
Illustrations: AI generated. Mai's character design by Usagi_Rabbit. (No AI was used in any of the music)

Also misses the point
the music is the main focus of my video, and that's where I put the most serious work. The illustrations are supporting visuals featuring "derivative works" of Vocaloid/Synthesizer V characters, which are intended to be used in creative works like these. I wanted the illustrations to look right, but they aren't the main point of the project.

[u/Chemical_Coach1437]

Don't let assholes affect how you feel. You like the art you made? Good enough. Onward bro.

[u/Emergency-Salad-1547]

I'd generally have just ignored them and moved on, or engaged in a game of cat and mouse to get them to repeatedly add views to my video.

I make music using Suno and while I write a lot of the lyrics myself, I generally start with ideas from Gemini where I don't have anything firm in mind. I use it to get an idea, or a structure, or even as much as the whole thing when I'm struggling, and I edit the output to something based on that inspiration.

Typically prompts are written with my own ideas of what I'm seeking, but will also use Gemini to make suggestions I hadn't considered, refine them, or structure them across multiple tracks in an album to ensure there's consistency and range of motion. I'll also use it to fill in gaps in my own knowledge and to construct the kinds of vocals I have in mind from Fach or CCM pedagogy.

But that's also okay. It's fine to let AI do most, or even all of the work.

Creative pros love to justify how much work they put in and how much is them versus the AI in order to prove they're allowed to sit at the table with the rest of the artists, but we don't need to do that because for social media-addicted sheep in the anti crowd, there's no amount of personal effort that would be good enough. If you did everything manually and then used AI to add your hand-drawn logo to the hand-drawn art, they'd still screech about it.

Hell, antis are eating themselves alive by 'AI-vestigating' each other's work and falsely claiming AI when there is none, or going to extreme lengths to prove it's not AI.

I say don't play their game. Make your stuff, be proud of it, post it, and ignore the sheep.

[u/Usagi_Rabbit → u/Emergency-Salad-1547]

Yep, I don't just use one AI, for example, for the basic Idea I use one....but for corrections I sometimes find other models are better at it. Also AI quirks are weird...you think the image is fine...then I make the PV...and I catch something later...once you see it....you can't unsee it. (Fortunately I always upload to private or unlisted on youtube...so I can review it again and ask a few friends before making it public).

[u/NedThomas]

Yeah, that person is dumb enough to think a prompt is just “make me a video” and that’s all that happens. Ignore them.

[u/Crazy_Yogurtcloset61]

Some people don't understand hybrid workflows

[u/Usagi_Rabbit → u/Crazy_Yogurtcloset61]

Right, like recording and making the music, mixing , mastering, making the video...was all part of the process.

[u/Uszko_Visuals]

I wouldn't stress over it. If you're afraid of criticism or hate, you shouldn't be posting online at all. Treat hate the way Marilyn Monroe did: as long as they talk about you, it works in your favor. You were upfront about using AI, so any drama in the comments is literally just free food for the algorithm. It brings views and gets people talking. Don't waste your time reading it unless you're curious, and definitely don't take anonymous people on the internet personally. You don't even have to listen to me either. If you start worrying about what everyone thinks, you'll burn out fast. Just do your thing, improve your quality, switch up your style to see what works, and let the audience fight it out. Let them feed your numbers

[u/Usagi_Rabbit → u/Uszko_Visuals]

I have been posting over 10 years and put up like 40 videos on there plus other places but that was the first one to have AI images in it. So I never got comments like that before.
Add: the post was more about how should I handle it, reply? block? ignore, hold comments? etc but I guess that is not very clear in the wording.

[u/Uszko_Visuals → u/Usagi_Rabbit]

Even more reason not to care. I’ve dealt with all kinds of hate myself, made music for years, and the reality is that people landing on your channel who don't care about your work just need an outlet for their own frustration. You gave someone a place to vent their issues, job done, now ignore them. A year from now there will be fewer comments like that, in two years even less, and in ten years these exact same people will be sitting in front of the TV watching full movies made entirely with AI, complete with AI sound design and an LLM script. Just keep doing your thing and take advantage of this niche while there's still room, because in a year it might be way too crowded to break through

[u/o_herman]

Give him a pin of shame and debunk him in that thread.

[u/BlowUpMe]

Cheaper would be to pay to artist on Fiverr.