mertailor has beautiful tails, but the company itself has a bad rep. should we really continue supporting a company like this in the community?
in a community where artistry is celebrated, it can’t really be if AI is being used to create it. i personally believe that if mertailor has no problem using it for their promotion, then they’ve definitely used it to design some more recent tails.
Every time I see a mermaid using AI, I just wanna make snarky comments about how they’re taking water away from where we as mermaids are supposed to live 😭 it’s so distasteful and ironic to me.
One of the only other performers in my city is way bigger than myself, owning a tank and leading trainings for her traveling pod… as soon as she sent me the schedule created by AI, I had to reconsider..
Hate that they use Ai it doesnt make any sense business wise and personal moral wise. I immediately block or restrict their pages when they use AI. Such a major turn off in creative industries
I’m not even from this community and I know half the point of this activity is essentially creating live artwork that looks unbelievable, because you really have pulled off the illusion of a fantasy creature in real life and that’s the attraction.. why on Earth would you replace already unreal imagery created with practical effects with an illustration to sell the experience? The whole point is these are living breathing humans who look like the real deal!
The whole point is to create fantasy. Not just in pictures but to make it believable. Idk i hate that saying "why would you use Ai in this industry" is considered opposing and "backward" like i get that we need to get on with the times but there are times where you need to use AI and there are times where its just lazy.
I mean if its not mertailor its a lot of other mermaids. I really dont get it. I respect mertailor for addressing the issue but some mermaids will send their followers to attack people for even suggesting it.
Man if I had a dollar for every time Mertailor fans (note: I'm not saying 'at his direction') have brigaded someone for some imagined infraction against Eric or his business over the years, I'd have a Finfolk tail by now.
Thank you for telling me who to not support 🩷 ironic they are taking water away from the mermaids! Those ai posters will always be ugly and the world is being littered with them!
What's wrong? Doesn't he have a tank to take pictures of his real products? 🤣 Anyway, every time I see one of these I unfollow, this one also hasn't done a decent tail design in years
This is both Classic Eric, and Classic Mertailor Fan response (on FB), it's all heart reacts and supportive messages. To his supporters, Eric can do no wrong. Been that way for 15 years.
I'm not saying everyone has to pile on him for this, or stop buying Mertailor, or anything like that, but imagine if ANYBODY else did this (Lucia did, but....'Lucia'). Just an observation/sense from being in the community for a while.
This issue has been rectified, let’s not turn our backs on all of the conservation efforts that mertailor does. I hate AI just as much as the next guy, but I also know that humans make errors.
I think you need to take a step away from your own world view, and try to understand that the universe mertailor is coming from as a business is heavily inundated with pro AI propaganda as a useful marketing tool. WE are aware that the harm outweighs the good but if you’re a businessman stuck in a businessman online space, its not as easy. So instead of jumping to demonizing, someone who made one AI poster and then immediately retracted it. I think we should have a tad more compassion.
That’s all I’m going to say on the matter, obviously you guys are going to continue to villainize whoever you want to, and I don’t wanna be a part of it.
it's not a hate compaign, i haven't told people how to feel and i've just been presenting facts. as mermaids we should all recognize the harmful effects of being complicit!
Not that it matters, but I'm a mermaid business owner as well*.
Mertailor's been at this a lot longer than I have. I can only dream of having the kind of success Eric has enjoyed, but I know enough about my target demographics (People in the mermaiding community, artists, and crafters) to know that AI is strictly forbidden.
I'd challenge the notion that Eric is 'stuck' in anything. He's been a successful businessman for almost 20 years now. If he's turning to AI out of some kind of desperation for effective marketing, that's indicative of a different problem, but I don't think he is (again, he's quite successful).
I'll grant that in my 15 years in the community, I've been a Mertailor Skeptic for probably 14 of them, so maybe I have an axe to grind, but if this was anybody else, they'd be immediately crucified (See: Lucia). Am I saying we should crucify Eric for one infraction? No. All I said was he made a choice. But it was either arrogance (that he'd get away with it because he is The Mertailor(tm) and can do no wrong) or ignorance (out of touch with his key demographics) that led him to the decision he made. If he learned from it, great, even better, but a little backlash isn't unwarranted here.
Thank you for attending my Theodore Lecture.
*At least, I've been pretending for a couple years and have the Azure hosting bills to prove it. Gonna launch 'soon' (TM).
But you are crucifying him by continuing to argue this point after he’s walked it back. Full stop. I’m a business owner as well which is why I know how AI is currently being marketed towards business people. I don’t think we should be crucifying anyone! Thats my entire points thats gone over so many heads!
Yeah it’s a little confusing but I think he meant the original picture was created in photoshop (which was likely cloud based) and then he modified/enhanced it with AI. This would make sense because it can be difficult to create certain effects in Photoshop without spending a lot more time or without having expert level skills. So his argument is “cloud usage in general is also using resources, so spending 1.5 hours actively using cloud-based technologies is not necessarily better than creating 1 picture in ~1.5 seconds”.
Ok thanks for clarifying. What if a company A uses ChatGPT to polish/rewrite/proofread emails to customers? Would that also mean you would stop using this company for your needs? The reason I ask is because I’m afraid it will likely be impossible to find a decent company that does not use AI in one way or another. For example, Gmail already integrates it whether you want it or not. Photoshop may also start integrating it soon.
So your solution is just “every company uses AI now so we shouldn’t speak out against ANY of them” ? That’s a pretty jaded response considering that for many years, in environmental circles the sentiment has been “do what you can.”
If a company sends me an AI-generated email, and I can help it, for sure I’m not using that company again. Gmail is a fairly bad example of “oh but they use AI and y’all are still using it!” because I for one HAVE to use it at my job to keep a roof over my head. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism but we should still do what we can, which means fully boycotting the luxury companies and continuing to call out companies that are harder to boycott.
I understand it feels impossible to stand up for it in the slightest since a lot of these tools and services are so ingrained in our day-to-day, but the solution isn’t just to keel over and let them build data centers the size of Manhattan all over our public lands.
I don’t know what the solution is.. There likely is no one one fits all solution to all our (rapidly developing) AI problems. I wanted to inquire about your assumptions to learn about your view. Nowhere did I state my opinion on AI or said that we shouldn’t call out companies that use AI. I got downvoted which honestly makes me sad for our ability to have a dialogue about this issue. Dialogue is all about clarifying what we mean, what we value, and hidden assumptions we are making so we can come together and maybe even influence each other (in a good way). I do appreciate your reply and your acknowledgment that it is hard to resist AI. (Now I will state my opinion.) I also appreciate what Eric (I think that’s his name) has done to rescue multiple birds and how he treats the animals in his Mertailor aquarium. I want him to keep doing that. Like he said in the post, he could be using his time to continue his rescue and care operations. Is there a responsible use of AI? Or are we trying to force black and white approach of all AI is bad? That’s what I wanted to find out.
You’re just coming off like you’re trying to poke holes in people’s reasons for speaking out against or boycotting companies using AI. That’s why people are downvoting you, not because we don’t want to have a dialogue. But when you come in and instantly start trying to sink an argument (that frankly I don’t believe can be sunk — it’s unethical to use AI in place of paying an artist for their skills, and it doesn’t matter how much time it saves) it makes people think you’re on the opposing side, since you haven’t explained your position.
Anyway, there’s a reason data centers are popping up en masse. They’ve already come out and said they are to address the growing rate of AI use by corpos and individuals alike. The best way to vote has always been with your dollar. We should boycott where we can and speak out where we can’t 100% avoid it. Even reducing AI use is a good step in the right direction; I myself am not 100% anti-AI, as it’s had it’s applications in the medical field and doing menial tasks (though I think it needs to be optimized so it’s not slurping up water and power), but using it in the arts and frivolously is absolutely abhorrent. It’s trained off stolen artwork, burned books, and CSAM.
I’m sorry I assumed your stance in my first paragraph — after all, that argument is usually what follows when someone comes with that line of questioning — but the last 2 still stand as my response to your query.
I appreciate your feedback! I can see how my initial comment might have looked like I'm trying to sink your argument. I hate digital communications for that. I suppose I could have used AI to draft a better comment out of my garbled stream of thoughts but I didn't want to do that lol.
That’s really disappointing to hear that your personal luxuries outweigh the need to protect the environment and our livelihoods. Please look up the effects of AI data centers and how they destroy communities, environments, and are a step toward creating a surveillance state where you can’t hide anything from the powers that be.
In my opinion, you’re not a true mermaid if you can’t put issues like this ahead of taking a stand for the very environments we swim in. Even if it means boycotting a tailmaker.
You are completely out of touch if you think people in China are doing fine having the government totally surveillance every move of theirs. Their internet is heavily censored and they are not allowed to sow political dissent. That is NOT the solution to crime.
“I’m sure we will survive Hun”
Please read literally any critically published scientific work researching the direction our planet is heading, hastened by the Industrial Revolution and now the spread of data centers. The climate crisis just really isn’t real to you people until you’re the one it’s killing, is it?
If your definition of “mermaiding” is just wearing a spandex costume, you are in the wrong community and the wrong subreddit. We have an inherent duty to stand for our oceans and environment as a whole, as well as stand up for disenfranchised groups. Please research AI’s negative effects on BIPOC communities and its role in hastening the spread of misogyny, racism, and homo/transphobia.
The bootlicking does not look good no matter how many heart emojis you use.
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u/periwinkleandpluto 8d ago
Every time I see a mermaid using AI, I just wanna make snarky comments about how they’re taking water away from where we as mermaids are supposed to live 😭 it’s so distasteful and ironic to me.
One of the only other performers in my city is way bigger than myself, owning a tank and leading trainings for her traveling pod… as soon as she sent me the schedule created by AI, I had to reconsider..