What made me unhappy today ?

[CatrionaGrace]

So we should roll over and regard the practice of producing "original" work with AI as acceptable because everyone is doing it? Homer, didn't your mama ever ask you, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump, too?"

It's like the internal combustion engine replacing the horse and buggy. It's over.

By the way, horses are not exactly over, even if we don't get out the team and buggy for a trip to the grocery store anymore. To quote a University of Minnesota Extension article:

The U.S. horse industry directly contributes $74 billion to the economy and provides about 1.3 million jobs. Direct contribution refers to economic activity within the horse industry, such as horse care or recreation. However, these direct economic activities also prompt additional economic activity outside the horse industry. As a result, the total economic impact of the horse industry in the U.S. is $177 billion and 2.2 million jobs.

 

[DLC]

We gave up using horses to work cattle back when I was about 14, quad bikes are way better, though not as sexy. I had this horse called GG, GG tried his best but could not kill me. They can find a multitude of ways to killing / hurting themselves. Saw a butterfly, ran into the fence, wind blew a leaf away, collapses and nearly dies. Thought about crickets, now has colic. Etc. This is the nature of the Horse and why the bastards would be extinct if it wasn't for people irrationally loving them.

 

[Set2Stun]

Yeah, it's absolutely not over. Not even close. We're already getting organizations certifying "human-made" for creative arts products. That's the best we can do without the legislation that should've been put in place years ago, and might never happen with all the interests involved in gen AI-related stocks.

I'll never knowingly purchase anything tainted with gen AI. I do fear the day when it becomes indistinguishable from reality. Maybe legislation will have caught up by then, who knows.

I love how my own cover artist provided preliminary "pencil" sketches, then inked, then added colour, then the backgrounds, text. There's a clear trail of how the cover was created, including all the revisions I requested. If anyone challenges me on it (and I doubt that they would), the process is all there on record.

X Equestris, I hope the agreement you signed mentions no gen AI in case you gotta take this to small claims (or ask your credit card/PayPal/etc. to claw back the payment).

 

[X Equestris]

X Equestris, I hope the agreement you signed mentions no gen AI in case you gotta take this to small claims (or ask your credit card/PayPal/etc. to claw back the payment).

I’ve got everything in writing, and for the cherry on top, the artist actively advertises themselves as not using AI. If it escalates to that point, I think there’s a good chance they’d totally no-show any court hearing and I’d win a default judgement, but it may not be necessary.

The “sketch” has some pretty considerable departures from the concept art and info/reference packet I provided, so if the revision retains them or introduces new ones, I should have a good basis to ask for a refund without even needing to level accusations of AI. At that point, they’re either unable or unwilling to do the job I’m paying them to do.

 

[ps102]

Cold number 2, guys

So, sunday, after talking about having to shovel snow, the heat went out in my house. So i came in from shoveling snow, to a freezing house.

Now im sick again.

(We should have an "unlucky" thread....)

《Insert "IM TIRED OF THIS, GRANDPA" gif》

I've spent time learning about the immune system through the Internet (I needed to in the past) and something tells me that this one won't be as bad as the previous, so I wish you a speed recovery. Just take this as a slightly educated hunch

I will again say that I hate winter for this reason. But the cold season will be over in about three months (winter is about to start). It's a thought that gives me comfort. Just three months doesn't sound so bad. Spring is the best season. Warm, but not super hot, and sunny.

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

So many people around me are struggling and while I wish I could help ease the pain and exhaustion I see, I'm not the one to do so. So, all I can do is offer support and a listen if they need someone to talk to.

 

[edamame]

So many people around me are struggling and while I wish I could help ease the pain and exhaustion I see, I'm not the one to do so. So, all I can do is offer support and a listen if they need someone to talk to.

You're only (one) human and there is only so much you can do. I think being a listening ear for someone is enough. Doing too much can also exhaust you, so don't feel bad about limitations or taking personal space for yourself too. Everyone has something going on, even the helpers of the world.

 

[X Equestris]

Well, the “artist” sent me the “revision” about an hour ago, and I couldn’t ask for better confirmation. Both of these look like finished lineart even though this is supposed to be a preliminary sketch, and the second is totally different. Like, down to the stars in the night sky, which aren’t something I asked for revisions on. Why make more work for yourself?

While this one is a lot closer to what I asked for originally, there are still a bunch of divergences from the concept art and references. For example, I asked for a crescent moon up in the corner, near where the title would be, and instead it’s off to the side around the middle. Asked for half-body or knee-up characters at the forefront, they’ve done full bodies instead (both times). Plus this one seems like it has more of those little detail AI doesn’t get quite right.

So I’ll be asking for a refund once I have all my ammo lined up. Fortunately, I insisted on installments rather than upfront payment, so even in the worst case scenario, I wouldn’t be out much.

 

[Set2Stun]

That sucks so much. Hate that we have to be so careful about these things. There needs to be a certification system for artists.

 

[X Equestris]

Plus this one seems like it has more of those little detail AI doesn’t get quite right.

I didn’t even notice this one on my first look, but one of the characters has boots that turn into sandals (or skin?) around the ankles

 

[Dark_Indigenous_Prince]

Not today but a day ago, I was standing on the street corner and I took one step back because I realized I was standing too close to the street and I felt someone nose smash against my back, I have no idea why they were standing sooo close to me, it was weird. I turned around and it was a woman and she gave me a nasty look and grumbled under her breath, like I did something wrong??

Then at the train station an old man in a suit walked by and I complimented his stylish cane, it was handcrafted with a spiral around it and I thought it looked cool...and he replied, "Don't talk to me!" Then kept walking and grumbling more insults.

It must be something in the air or something, people were acting really weird that day. I just put in my earphones and played some music and decided Im not talking to anyone else til I get home lol.

 

[Link the Writer]

I don’t know how to write letters in the style of the 1700s. I mean…


I mean…

 

[Link the Writer]

Also, could the mods move the AI posts in a dedicated thread? This one got clogged up and the actual related posts kinda get hidden as a result of the big discussion. I feel bad about kind of causing that.

*sobs in not being able to write coherent 1700s letters*

But seriously though, yeah, the AI stuff should be its own thread.

 

[big soft moose]

Ther AI stuff is now in its own thread ... i left x eqs original post here as it was a not happy

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Not today but a day ago, I was standing on the street corner and I took one step back because I realized I was standing too close to the street and I felt someone nose smash against my back, I have no idea why they were standing sooo close to me, it was weird. I turned around and it was a woman and she gave me a nasty look and grumbled under her breath, like I did something wrong??

Then at the train station an old man in a suit walked by and I complimented his stylish cane, it was handcrafted with a spiral around it and I thought it looked cool...and he replied, "Don't talk to me!" Then kept walking and grumbling more insults.

It must be something in the air or something, people were acting really weird that day. I just put in my earphones and played some music and decided Im not talking to anyone else til I get home lol.

Some people just want to watch the world burn, I guess. Sounds like you ran into a couple of menacing malefactors.

I had a similar experience a few years ago - I rode my bicycle up to a train station, but the station was underground (and had two sets of escalators heading down).

There was no room to get the bike on the escalator, so I hoisted it onto one of my shoulders ... and just as I did so, some woman behind me started yelling about how I, a smelly and evil creature (according to her) nearly accidentally hit her in the face with the rear wheel of my bike. (How dare I). So, I turned around to look at her rant, and she swung her handbag at my face. *shrug* I ducked and walked away. WTF?

 

[Catrin Lewis]

pestilential little buggers.

"Pestilential." Apt, under the circumstances.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Imposter syndrome kicking my ass now. Telling me that a plot involving a corrupt merchant, illegal land speculation, and a tangent connection to Amos' father with events leading up to the man's death does not make for a compelling story. Telling me, 'Who would wanna read about colonial land grants, grabs, and... and... math!?'

That sounds fascinating. Give it the writing it deserves, and I'll read it. Not just trying to make you feel better, either.

(In one branch of my family, the only reason we know about when our first-generation Colonial ancestor died was because several of his kids sued their mother over the will. Good grief. At least the son my line traces from was too young to get in on it.)

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Summer has begun and it's colder than ever.

Sumer is icumen in, loude sing kookaburra?

 

[Catrin Lewis]

After littering the thread with responses I should have given two weeks ago, I'm here to kvetch that I, too, have a cold. Only, this one has developed into laryngitis. Right at the run-up to Christmas.

I hope and pray I get my voice back before the carol sing on the 19th. At the moment I have no notes. None.

Hope our other sufferers are better by now.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I hope you get your voice back by the carol concert, Catrin! *hug*

I don't have a cold (it's summer here), but I have been struggling with chronic back pain that lasted the last two weeks at least. So, I was in near-constant pain and had to miss the Messiah concert last Sunday.

The rest of the work-week was OK, just punctuated by pain, visits to my GP and physio, doing physio-mandated exercises, and taking painkillers. The back pain seems to be going away, little by little, but it still comes up every so often, and it's like being punched in the flanks.

Wish me luck getting rid of this stupid thing. As it is, I was supposed to do 3 carols concerts next weekend, but I don't think I can do them, for obvious reasons.