I don't think it was a prominent feature when I joined, AI imagery in general wasn't quite as popular or sophisticated at the time. And even if I disagree with that point, it's not a deal breaker and db0 is still far better than many other instances.

As someone who feels similarly about AI art, but joined db0 anyway: I like the other things they got going on and I'm not stupid enough to whine and complain about the one thing I don't like. (I guess, technically this is doing some of that but shut up xD)

It's like if I went to a bar that has a bunch of games in it, and one is a bunch of pool tables or something and I really hate pool, I'm not gonna throw a fuss demanding they remove it? Some people like it even if I think it's not that cool.

It's fine if people like it, it just gives me a gross and uncomfortable feeling when I see it and makes me sad that one of the first careers killed by AI could be illustrators.

This isn't exactly a capitalist tech-bro instance. So while I agree with there being a problem here, the problem is less genai and more about capitalism IMHO.

Which is why it can seem a bit silly to me to go after this instance of all things when it comes to genai.

That said, as always, I think db0's soft rule is a really great good faith effort to be accommodating to others, while staying true to the core of what the instance is about.

So I hope you'll see that part of things and tone it down in kind.

Fair, but this happens in EVERY profession. Happened with people who sewed clothes, weavers, photographers (once a camera was on every single phone), now coders, etc. Also very few artists made money anyway. People who like to do art for personal and fun reason, still can.

Source: I used to be a professional artist/graphic artist for a living. I was able to do it for 35 years before I retired last year. It was always a grind, and very few could make it. Even though I was good enough for it to be my only paycheck for most of my career, I still love AI artwork. :)

World changes. People crying about it and "boycotting" lemmy communities because they don't like it won't change anything at all. Not even a little bit.

AI isn't going anywhere, regardless of how mad people on Lemmy are about it. Not only that, but a lot of nerdy stuff they do now like vid games, DnD, etc, already incorporate AI and will continue to do so. I still have contacts in the industry, I know what the marketing departments are doing. Lemmy won't even know what is AI and what isn't.

There are still people here who say "Oh just look at the hands!" Friends, there are lots of ai models that have figured that out.

Marketing teams aren't using ai that looks ai. Most food photos you see are ai. Most graphics you are seeing on vid game covers and ads are ai. Funiture ads are ai. You are already being duped because you think you "know AI" when you see it. Actually, no you don't. You know BAD ai when you see it. Good ai is something that you don't even realize is ai. And it's already everywhere. lmao

Its getting heated on both sides from what I've seen floating around. I have to stand more with db0, because the other side just seems to be openly marketing hate-mongering. Which of course is going to bait a rise out of some here. We haven't been going around slandering people who hate AI, but I've seen people going around openly slandering this instance for liking it. That's what happens when you create a community solely based on the hate of a subject. Its just a breeding ground for negative energy.

I've been on both sides. I'm not really cool with AI stealing art and prose to add onto their repertoire, but I have self-hosted LLMs and enjoy using them locally. There's a place for AI, and unfortunately big corp is pushing an agenda that places AI in a horrible light, so its no wonder people hate it. That doesn't mean that they should create a hate-based community, but hey, that's a part of real freedom.

On the other side of this coin, we have people here who stoke the flames by pre-banning people from communities they moderate in wild displays of power abuse, or joining in on fuck_ai to openly speak out in a community where they're obviously not wanted and in general just taking a stick to the beehive. I've seen plenty on this side that disregard the rules and beliefs of anarchy, instigate arguments, and flout the premise of one of the ideas that db0 stands against- abuse of power.

Like I said, I can't blame some of them. Its hard to ignore some of the obvious slander that db0 gets sometimes, but it doesn't mean we should openly validate them by getting hot around the collar about it. We shouldn't take the high road, either. Pretentious high-horsing is just as bad as openly getting angry. Let AI-haters openly bash AI and try to understand that there is a vindicated reason for it. Its not us or even AI itself, its how AI is being marketed and used by big corp. We need to push that we don't believe in that, the same as they don't, without swinging bats at the first hater we come across.

The best thing db0 can do right now is be respectful. I get it, we're not exactly receiving that same respect sometimes, but stooping down to low levels of disrespect just based on the venom that spits out of an individual's mouth is just not the answer. Whereas I don't think this will get as bad as .ml or hexbear levels of hatred, I really don't want us to be the next in that spotlight.

Death threats and transphobia are just the cries of the few disgusting extremists. I agree that they need to stop immediately. I tend to dislike anything extremist. Their respective instances should be taking action against those individuals. If they don't, I have no doubts that Lemmy will stand against them as a whole. Transphobia in general isn't and shouldn't be tolerated anywhere, and usually isn't tolerated here at all.

In the case of those individuals, I just see children throwing a tantrum and trying anything to scare or upset mods. That's when slurs and scare tactics pop their ugly heads out of the grass, and they should be ashamed for just thinking those things, let alone acting on them. But that's not instance vs. instance. That's a handful of people in an instance being angry at a handful of people from another instance. There should be no reason to start a war of many based on the battle of a few.

So I don't disagree with you, but the context makes all the difference in the world. Its a very complicated and complex situation.

tl;dr: This whole thing sucks, but at least we're taking steps on our side to solve it.

It's going to take a while to do that now. People are all riled up right now and really should cool off a bit. I know what you mean, though, because this instance's stance on AI is basically my stance on it.

There are great applications for it, but the government and big corp are pushing it into a disgusting direction, as they do with everything they get their hands on that could give them power or money.