Had a talk with my dad about AI art last night and it got me thinking

He's 68 and works in construction, totally offline most days. He asked me what I do for work and I mentioned AI image tools, and he just looked at me and said "so you push a button and call it yours?" That hit different because he's not wrong about how easy it looks from the outside. Made me realize we need to explain the process better, not just show the final pics. Anyone else deal with family who thinks AI is just magic and not actual work?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige_martin10d ago

Your dad's comment about pushing a button actually hits on something deeper. The real work isn't in the final output, it's in training your eye to know what looks right and what looks like a cheap mashup. People see the one good image we share but not the 50 failed attempts with mangled hands and wonky lighting that came before it. My neighbor does woodworking and he showed me his scrap pile once, said every finished piece hides a dozen mistakes. That's the same thing here, just with different tools.

jake_martin1610d agoTop Commenter

Yeah, pretty much. Just like my woodworking neighbor, I've got enough AI hand disasters to fill a whole "look what I accidentally summoned" gallery.