I agree with you, clients who can replace you with AI aren't your real clients. It's the same argument I make when graphic designers are concerned that people bidding on Fiverr and Upwork are undercutting them.
I love Fiverr - I regularly send enquiring clients there when they 'just want some business cards'. It clears my inbox, and they get what they want. I'm not competing because I offer something they don't.
I got here after reading this piece in Eye On Design and thank you! You've articulated what I've been kind-of thinking ever since the DALL-E images began appearing on my feed, but didn't really find the words for. I must admit, I missed much of the hand-wringing about it displacing illustrators, but it was the first thought I had myself when I saw the images. But my second thought was that if I wasn't worried that the better and cheaper-than-me artists would replace me, I really shouldn't worry about the AI either. Illustration is, as you pointed out, a deeply precarious business already, but the thing that makes us irreplaceable is our humanity.
I wonder though, how tools like DALL-E could be put to use by illustrators. Do you think it might find a place in your process? For me, I already use Google Image Search and Pinterest when groping for inspiration. I think DALL-E could help me set up digital models to sketch (if I give composition prompts) or show me ways of rendering my concepts in different styles before I pick one, maybe.
You're a wonderful writer and I'm so glad I've discovered your newsletter. I'm going to go read more of your work now. Thank you for doing what you do.
I agree with you, clients who can replace you with AI aren't your real clients. It's the same argument I make when graphic designers are concerned that people bidding on Fiverr and Upwork are undercutting them.
I love Fiverr - I regularly send enquiring clients there when they 'just want some business cards'. It clears my inbox, and they get what they want. I'm not competing because I offer something they don't.
AI **cannot** offer what you can offer.
I got here after reading this piece in Eye On Design and thank you! You've articulated what I've been kind-of thinking ever since the DALL-E images began appearing on my feed, but didn't really find the words for. I must admit, I missed much of the hand-wringing about it displacing illustrators, but it was the first thought I had myself when I saw the images. But my second thought was that if I wasn't worried that the better and cheaper-than-me artists would replace me, I really shouldn't worry about the AI either. Illustration is, as you pointed out, a deeply precarious business already, but the thing that makes us irreplaceable is our humanity.
I wonder though, how tools like DALL-E could be put to use by illustrators. Do you think it might find a place in your process? For me, I already use Google Image Search and Pinterest when groping for inspiration. I think DALL-E could help me set up digital models to sketch (if I give composition prompts) or show me ways of rendering my concepts in different styles before I pick one, maybe.
You're a wonderful writer and I'm so glad I've discovered your newsletter. I'm going to go read more of your work now. Thank you for doing what you do.