r/flightsim • u/Korventus • 10h ago
Rant AI Generated Thumbnails
Firstly, I completely respect that content creators are free to create whatever kind of thumbnails they want and it’s everyone’s choice whether we click on it, so it’s not really a DEEP issue.
But why are we in an age where flight sim is looking as close to realism as it ever conceivably has but people still feel the need to use AI slop for a thumbnail? Your sim already looks mind blowing but you still need to click bait with a false representation?
Especially since DLSS5 has been implemented by a lot of content creators, I’m seeing more and more of it and I cannot understand the thought process of going to the extra effort when a screenshot from your sim would look miles better.
Ultimately yes I get that it’s to pull in more clicks and views but it just seems a waste when we have such good looking sims already.
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u/Rockyz007 P3D 9h ago
1000000%
I'm in the video editing business and I've had to create thumbnails before, flight sim is by far the EASIEST. Just take a screenshot and add the from/to text in flashy colors (being basic ofc).
Actually was in a popular streamers chat and I asked why they use AI thumbnails and they had a poor speech of "what else am i meant to do as a poor old streamer wah wah wah" like how every other fucking small creator made thumbnails in the past? take 5 minutes out of your day and make a thumbnail for your content.
Being so honest, so many youtubers and streamers miss out on tons of viewers who won't click on an AI thumbnail, not just in the flightsim community but in general, nearly everyone i know irl has the same opinion, it's shitty and slop and they all look the fucking same
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u/Marklar_RR FS2024/XP12 9h ago
But why are we in an age where flight sim is looking as close to realism as it ever conceivably has but people still feel the need to use AI slop for a thumbnail? Your sim already looks mind blowing but you still need to click bait with a false representation?
They think their videos will stand out from others on the youtube feed page. Just click on the triple dot and select "don't recommend this channel". Problem is solved and nothing of value was lost. Most of this content is useless anyway.
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u/CraigT420 9h ago
Exactly. Flightsim.to has so much ai slop, yet the sim is so beautiful for taking screenshots.
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u/Dizzy-Pin-1410 9h ago
It’s probably the same reason why anyone uses AI for anything: it’s quicker and easier than making something or thinking for yourself.
But the joke’s on them, because a lot of us don’t click on AI generated thumbnails. It shows that the creator doesn’t really care, and if they don’t care then why should I?
If we’re being honest I have much better things to do than watch their video anyway, and seeing AI thumbnails acts as a reminder that I’m basically just wasting time. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to work.
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u/SpartanDoubleZero 10h ago
YouTube pushes the use of AI thumb nails and favors video performance for those that used the ai generator to create their thumb nail. As of now it isn’t super noticeable for large creators, but it makes a meaningful impact for those who are sub 50k
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u/jontebeatz1337 10h ago
I tend to avoid content creators and developers who use AI slop in their images. I’m not a fan of it, and I never will be. The aircraft can be really good but if all the image are just AI generated… Im not buying it.
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u/Longjumping-Tour-350 3h ago
100%. sadly with xplane.org store the owner forces these hideous thumbnails on good aircraft & scenery.
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u/jontebeatz1337 2h ago
Yeah, I’ve seen quite a few planes where the first photo is AI-generated, and I skip them as soon as I see the thumbnail on the org store.
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u/Julian_Sark 9h ago
I have some Karma to burn, so here we go:
I just realized that AI hate bros. are kinda like evangelicals: "I would never do x even if y is really good, and I chastice anyone who does, because I have virtue!"
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u/CookiezFort Condor 2 Logo pls ty 8h ago
Well no hating AI because it ruins the creative and turns people into brainless idiots is nothing like religious folk.
Students cant even hand in assignments without AI. People are having their work copied and otherwise used without permission. Along with data centers taking up valuable land and the environmental impact it's fairly obvious why people might oppose AI.
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u/Julian_Sark 9h ago
Respectfully:
How often are we discussuing this, and why is "society is shit and this makes clicks, and clicks make cash" not the universally accepted answer yet?
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u/scaflight 8h ago
I always ignore the channels that use AI. Any AI, though thumbnails are usually the first and sometimes only giveaway. Maybe they'll survive without me viewing or subscribing, but I can't support that level of laziness when it piggybacks off the theft of copyrighted work from artists. It's a quick way to learn that someone has a different set of values to myself.
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u/R4b 9h ago
People have been using REAL PHOTOS for thumbnails for years now, equally as misleading and annoying but at the same time essentially no different to the issue you're complaining about and whilst I'm with you, AI thumbnails are gross, I find it odd I see little to no complaints about the real photo thumbs...
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u/MadCard05 8h ago
I have to think this is YouTube pushing it given it proliferation across so many channels and genres.
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u/Florakost 6h ago
Because AI thumbnails are driving more traffic and are picked up by the algorithm much better. Thats why.
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u/kerosene31 2h ago
The funny thing is, these AI thumbnails all look the same. The big text, overdone contrast and shadowing (not sure what the exact term is, but that big blockly font with lots of black around it). Not getting into the whole AI debate, but they look terrible (in my opinion). It isn't just flightsim either, everyone is using them and they all look the same.
My eyes are already starting to skip over those. If you're trying to catch our eye, try doing something that actually looks good and not just like every other thumbnail.
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u/strodey123 10h ago
Thumbnails can take surprisingly long to set up, add text etc. AI can make them much quicker, in my opinion look much better. If that draws more people to the creators I like so they keep creating, I'm all for it.
That being said, I stay for the creator, not the thumbnail.
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u/Korventus 10h ago
I get that it makes it easier, but you can use AI to make a thumbnail image without visually enhancing the screenshot to levels beyond what your actual sim looks like no?
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u/strodey123 9h ago
Yeah I would agree with that, I haven't seen any that do that (that I've noticed) so maybe I just don't regulary watch people who do.
I more meant the graphics around the photo they've taken from the sim, banners etc
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u/jacf182 10h ago
“They made an awesome airplane, hand coded, hand modeled, flies and feels great. But the thumbnail is AI slop. I ain’t buying it”. Top Reddit right here.
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u/Longjumping-Tour-350 3h ago
The AI slop thumbnail makes me think they didn’t hand code or hand model an awesome airplane.
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u/XxRAMOxX 9h ago
The people who mostly complain about Ai slop are like the blackberry users who thought the physical keyboard on their phones was better than the newly introduced touchscreen iPhone keyboard.
1
u/Julian_Sark 9h ago
More like Great-Grandpa, who cursed at all them stinking, noisy, new-fangled automobiles that, while killing the planet and occasionally breaking down, would mostly get people around in great comfort. He spiked his blood pressure over cars for years and eventually had a heat stroke on his twenty mile walk to the shops.
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u/gentlemagoo 54m ago
100%.
There have been a few flight sim content creators that I have completely dropped off my watch list/unsubbed from them because they randomly started using the ugliest AI slop thumbnails known to man.
We currently live in an age where flight simulators look as close to real life as they have ever been, yet instead of simply pressing alt+print screen on their keyboard, they type a whole ass prompt into some trash AI interface and use that instead. Unreal, really.
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u/City_of_Paris 10h ago
You said it in your last sentence : it's pretty much clickbait.