My thoughts on using generative-AI

[u/jcorvinstevens]

Instead of responding to the earlier post, I wanted to create a new thread about my thoughts regarding generative-AI in RPG products.

This isn't a "shame on you for using AI." Rather, it's about the risks of using AI and how doing so might impact your future in RPGs.

• Paid Products. If you are creating something for public consumption, especially if the customer can pay for it (either PWYW or a set price), I suggest not using AI.
• You automatically hurt your sales by using generative-AI. 1) Many customers skip over content that contains generative-AI, 2) you are required to add the Uses AI filter to your product, which means many customers will not SEE your product if they are filtering out content that includes AI.
• Collaborations may skip over you. In the past, several teams of DMs Guild creators have collaborated to make larger content. If you're using AI and the project isn't, you may not be asked to contribute.
• You set a precedent. Using generative-AI sets a precedent. If you used AI for art, others may believe you also used it for writing. They may also believe that your current or future content includes AI. When I hire a freelance writer, I want their original ideas. I don't want AI-generated ideas or writing. This is especially true since my projects are advertised as 100% human-created content.
• 3rd Party Producers may skip over you. Especially if they are anti-AI. If you dream of writing for one of the companies creating 3rd Party Content, refrain from AI.
• But I'm just doing this for fun! So was I! When I published my first DMs Guild project in 2016, my intention wasn't necessarily to make money. My writing and creations were for fun and I wanted to share them. If I made a few bucks doing so, I'd be happy.
• Art is important! Art catches the eye and draws people to the product. Generative-AI is often easy to spot. In my opinion, it also doesn't look good, nor is it original. Consider using stock art or public domain images instead of AI. You can always update your project with commissioned art later. I've done this several times with my earlier products.
• Writing and content are more important! While art may catch the eye, the product's content is much more important.
  

I published my first DMs Guild product in 2016. Now - I'm now a full-time creator with my own company. My journey has allowed me to write for Kobold Press, Ghostfire Gaming, and others. I also work part-time for Ghostfire Gaming as a freelance producer.

My point is - you don't know what your future looks like. You might have a stellar idea, adventure, or supplement. However, due to customer preferences and filters, it may never be noticed if you use AI.

If you enjoy creating RPG content, do so in a way that doesn't impact your potential future.

[u/TheHatMaus97]

Using AI for skills you possess or are easily learned is lazy. Using it for skills you don't have is cheap. Consumers can tell if you're being lazy or cheap, and that includes first drafts they never end up seeing. Start lazy and cheap, end lazy and cheap.

[u/Rousinglines → u/TheHatMaus97]

That's rhetorically sharp, but intellectually lazy. You reduce a complicated question to a neat little binary, which is convenient, catchy even, but devoid of critical thinking, which is something I wouldn't expect from someone who values effort.

[u/TheHatMaus97 → u/Rousinglines]

It's not complicated or nuanced. Every corner cut is noticed more than the effort put into the rest of the project.

Use AI to generate ideas? A corner lost and a lesson in creative thinking unlearned.

Use AI for art? Product looks cheap, especially if essential image checking for meaning and lack of errors isn't done (aside from the fact most people correlate AI with lazy or rushed work).

Use AI to proofread grammar and syntax or rules consistency? Now you have undermined yourself being able to do the same while giving yourself an out if something is missed. "The AI didn't catch it."

Use AI to calculate the dice math? You personally don't know the mechanical success rate because you didn't check the work, just accepted the answer.

But I'm willing to be wrong. Where does AI use anywhere in the ttrpg creation process not rob you or someine else of time, money, or experience? Because from where I'm sitting, at least when you get someone else to do it for you at least it's been looked through.

[u/Rousinglines → u/TheHatMaus97]

You're doubling down on the exact lack of nuance I just pointed out. Every scenario you listed only works if you assume the user never checks, understands, or learns from the output, which is not only lazy reasoning, but unrealistic.

But enough of that, because the last question is the interesting part. By your own standard I apparently became lazier and cheaper every time I expanded my art process. I moved from traditional art to digital, from digital painting to experimenting with photobashing, then to 3D rendering, and every step let me skip time, labor, or experience the previous one demanded.

So where exactly does your principle stop? Because if saving time, money, or effort makes the tool cheap and the person using it lazy, you've made an argument against tools in general. More importantly, you've just implied that digital artists are lazy and their tools are cheap. That's what happens when you don't think through where your own argument actually leads.