I touched NovelAI. (Patreon)

-- Sorry the translation is hard to read. I think you will get the meaning, so please bear with me. --

What do you think about AI illustrations?

I think that many people have negative feelings about AI illustrations.

Why is this so? Let me try to think about it briefly.

One of the reasons is that people are "painting (or generating) pictures with ease". They are creating pictures they like without learning the skills to draw.

Well, it is not hard to understand. Just by typing simple sentences or words, you can create a nice-looking picture, and you are leapfrogging over those who are trying hard to acquire drawing skills.　The impulse to paint is still "I want to paint a pretty or cool picture just the way I want it!" If an AI is generated quickly and easily, you may feel that your efforts are being negated.

In addition, "I'm tired of being shown similar AI pictures."　I think there is also a possibility of saying.

Especially on illustration sites such as PIXIV, the mass-produced AI pictures are lined up in the new arrivals, and the pictures of other artists are buried in the new arrivals. It is possible that AI pictures are not popular among those who are trying to develop new artists. AI pictures may be considered as a smokescreen for other artists.

And what about the rights to the pictures that will be the source of AI training?  As far as Asaki's "current" view is concerned, as long as the AI is not produced by maliciously and intentionally learning, it is unavoidable if it is within the current vague and gray judgment. This is different from analog tracing and copying.

This is different from analog trace copying, and it is difficult to say for sure that it is a copy. so I think it is impossible to punish all AI paintings.　In the world of art (music, painting, architecture, design, etc.), there are artists who have inherited the characteristics of masters and famous people, but it is not the case that they are treated as copies, and they have their own individuality.　But it is not the case that they are treated as copies, and they have their own individuality. It's not right.

But, well, the fact that AI is not created from nothing, but is certainly learned and accumulated from someone else's work, is a problem for us flesh-and-blood human beings.

But i, too, are influenced by someone else's work, to no small extent. Most of us would rather start by imitating someone else.

Finally, in order to sort out my own feelings toward AI, I actually touched it.

I tried using "Novel AI," which anyone can use as long as they register an account, to see what AI generation can do and whether it can be useful for my work. Please take a look at what I tried.

The first thing I tried was image-to-image.

The original picture was drawn by Asaki.

This time, we experimented by having the AI take a rough drawing of a naked Ra'el and generate one with armor on.

The rough drawing of naked Rahel looks like this.

I let the novelAI generate the image with the word "armor" from this rough drawing.

The coloring is simple, but it looks a little like armor, or rather, like a bikini armor.

Let's change the parameters further.

I moved the parameters so rapidly that a completely unrelated picture was created. It is a failure.　However, I am surprised to see that it is not a rough but a completed painted picture.

Now let's change the values back a little and re-generate the picture.

I want the face to look at us, so we add a prompt.

Now the elbows have been extended.

The arm is also mysteriously melted.

So i add a prompt to say bend the elbow.

The elbows are bent, but not the way they looked in the original picture, so I adjust the parameters.

It is a nice butt.

No, it doesn't.

It looks like the silhouette of the original picture, but the elbows are bent differently.

Adjust the parameters... Now, let's see.

Well, the direction of the face has returned to the original.　The armor has increased.

Next!

Full armor!

My elbows have grown too!

Next!

Oh, no!　A little cute, but not at all!

So, as you can see, it is more difficult than you think to "complete a naked character with armor" in i2i.

In this case, it might be better to draw the armor as a silhouette.

So, I used a single color like this.

Well, let's see how it turns out.

Oh! I think it's not a bad trend.

I adjusted the parameters and...

Hmmm, not much change.

I'll play with the parameters a louder.

Ah... I tweaked the parameters too much.

It's not as easy as you might think.

I tried to get closer to the picture I wanted by adjusting the ratio of the parts I left to the AI's ideas and the parts I left to my own intentions, but as you can see, the result is as you can see.

As you can see, it is still difficult to say whether I can use it for my work.

Finally, I tried to generate a female knight with text-to-image.

I'll put some of them on the site.

I chose relatively visible objects, but it is difficult to generate the desired "feel".

This time, I played with "novel AI".

It is true that there is a "gacha" sensation, or the enjoyment of not knowing what will come out. I don't have the feeling that I am drawing, but I understood the "gacha" element. It would be a shame to deny this fun.

I think it would be a fun world if I could develop the prompts and generate a picture that is close to my image.　If that happens, I may be able to use it in my work.

Is AI a nuisance to painters?　no... I mean, I felt the possibility of coexistence with AI.

I feel that if many problems are solved and people's awareness is turned in the right direction, we can surely get to a wonderful place ahead.　However, the opposite result is not zero, so I would like to keep an eye on the trend of the times, and try to keep in touch with AI in order to move in the right direction.

Some of you may be wondering if Asaki will stop painting or if he will fall into the trap of AI.

but please be assured that we have no intention of doing so at this time.

I hope that both Asaki and my fans will be able to see good works.

If you have any opinions, please let me know.

Thank you very much for your patience with this long article.

-- Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) --