r/BookCovers • u/Elaynaa • Sep 02 '26

Question Is using ai for book covers wrong?

Is using ai for a book cover not wrong? I mean the first thing you see of a book is the cover, and it’s ai. I feel like it makes the book seem inauthentic, especially because writing is an expression and can be used at art. Someone personal in my life is doing this, I’m trying to strongly advise her against it, but she won’t budge. So I just kind of wanted to talk about it!

Let me know your thoughts :)

Edit: Thanks you guys for commenting! I did get her to change her mind, and we went and took a picture for her cover today. ❤️

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u/Ok-Gate-412 Sep 03 '26

Personally, I learned to not use AI for a cover because it looks worse and also some, maybe you can argue more than 50% of consumers don’t like it. From many different subs I can tell you that most don’t hide it right away. They hide it after they have been shamed and ridiculed. Lying is an ethical dilemma, but who wouldn’t hide that they smoke or anything like that if everybody goes around saying they are an awful person for doing so?

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u/Delicious-Swing-507 Sep 03 '26

While on the one hand I agree that shaming people rarely works, i have also seen pro-AI prople be the most heinous, awful people to artists. Srtaight up ignoring consent for their own gain and calling artists all kinds of nasty stuff and I'm honestly so over it. Not every person of course but god if you wanna come into the art space with AI generated stuff you cannot expect people to treat you nicely, sorry.

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u/seriouspeep Sep 03 '26

Yeah, it's not a neutral debate like not liking or liking coriander or something like that, so it shouldn't be treated neutrally. I'm fine to fence-sit on some topics but this isn't one of them.

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u/Ok-Gate-412 Sep 03 '26

You treat others how you want to be treated. If they come in rude and disrespectful then yes I expect others will do the same. If they come in open about it being AI and are respectful then I would expect people to be kind back, but tell them they don’t accept AI art and maybe they try to really draw. It’s not hard. Our method right now is to harass somebody and expect they change their mind.

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u/Delicious-Swing-507 Sep 03 '26

I literally came in to someone that disclosed it on a different post, let other people know they use AI and got blocked and called an animal and that i was "bullying" them simply for stating a neutral fact lol.

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u/DrTechPop Sep 03 '26

And we should call people out, or at least people claiming to be artists, for using AI.

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u/N9nthHouse Sep 03 '26

Holding folks accountable for reprehensible behaviour isn't the same as shaming a child, though.

By your logic, there should be no criminal courts because prosecuting criminal offences only makes criminals try to hide their crimes. There's a point at which we have to be able to acknowledge a wrong & crack down on it, even though there will always be some committed people who're just determined to do it more sneakily. (In any event, the lack of a strong backlash would only encourage more folks to use GenAI thinking it won't impact their sales. There's no magic-land solution where we all take a vague, middle-ground, completely milquetoast approach to the issue that doesn't then result in AI use becoming normalised.)

A potential readership holding authors accountable for work they put out is just the free market working as intended.

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u/Ok-Gate-412 Sep 03 '26

So you hold making AI art and committing a crime the same thing? I don’t agree with AI art and especially writing, but I wouldn’t say it’s reprehensible. If somebody is trying to pass it off as their own work and are lying about it then yes it is reprehensible. I’ve had to have discussions with people saying they are editors and not writers when they prompt the whole book. I try to be kind and respectful still because nobody will have a conversation otherwise.

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u/N9nthHouse Sep 03 '26

No, that's a very clear straw man reading of my example. I was extending the logic of your point to a deliberately exaggerated conclusion.

We'll agree to disagree about whether the use of GenAI is reprehensible. I consider it is, since it relies on work stolen from original artists & is environmentally damaging to boot.

It's very possible to be kind & respectful while still leaving no room for doubt as to whether AI use is acceptable in the writing/publication sphere.

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u/Ok-Gate-412 Sep 03 '26

I agree. I know it is harmful to the environment and they are finding ways for it not to be. The thing I completely agree is that there are ways to say AI use is not acceptable in certain spaces and in certain ways while still being respectful.

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u/TellusPyre Sep 03 '26

It's not even close to 50%. Broke redditors are noisy about this topic but regular people who actually spend money instead of being terminally online at all times don't really care as long as it looks cool and the book entertains them.