On the use of AI Images

So you can't swing a dead cat on social media right now without running into the ethical and moral debate around the use of AI images for book covers, promotions, etc. And one thing that over two decades in the game development industry has taught me, it's best to be as transparent and up front about everything you do right away. Let there be no false expectations around anything I do.

So let's get the five-legged elephant in the room out of the way right up front.

Was AI used in the art for this website?

And the answer is yes. It absolutely was. And now of course, for the follow-up question..

Why do you hate artists?

I don't. In fact, as I mentioned above, I've been developing games for years, and many, many of my friends are artists, and I hear and understand thoroughly the dilemma that not only they face, but so does too just about everyone in a creative field does right now. But as well, I am one person, with limited resources, and I cannot afford to just straight up ignore powerful tools that are available for getting ideas and notions across. And while you'll find plenty of people with positions on the far extremes of this debate, as is the way with many things, my own position, out of necessity, will fall somewhere in the middle. Here's how I'm going to draw the line for myself.

In building supplemental materials, free promotional e-books, filler images, and rough approximations of concepts and ideas from my written work, I will use the legal means available to me to do so - including licensed stock images, licensed fonts, commissions, and AI generated images.

In building any piece of work that I intend for sale, for instance a book cover, for the design and imagery associated with that work, I absolutely will only work with a commissioned artist for that work. And that's not just because of some arbitrary ethical line. Honestly it's also because an AI generated image will never deliver exactly what I want. Only by working with another human, and honest iteration between myself and the artist, would I ever get the image that's in my head down on paper, produced by talented hands.

So that's my take. Yes, you will find some AI generated images on this website. Will I ever use them for cover art for books I am selling? Absolutely not.

Now my hope is your thoughts are "Whatever Dusty, just tell me about the book", because honestly, that's the conversation I want to have. But if in your heart of hearts you feel like you can never support anyone who ever makes any use of AI generated art in anyway, well I respect that, and thank you for hearing me out.

Cheers,

Dusty Monk