I am reminded of reading of the days when automobiles first appeared on the scene, and horse-and-buggy owners yelled “GET A HORSE!” Where are the horses and buggies now?
People make wood furniture by hand. Furniture is also made in factories using computerized saws, laser engravers, and robotic varnish booths. Anyone tried to shut down the corporate furniture industry? I once built electric guitars by hand… and they were very nice, high-quality instruments. Fender came out with the manufactured Squire Bullet for a little over $100. Anyone wanna try to argue with Fender or tell them they’re “cheating”?
CGI came along and replaced hand-made special effects. In a way I’m somewhat sad about that because at one time if you saw an impressive special effect on a movie, you know it took some real genius to pull it off. These days CGI is as common in movies as popcorn in theaters… and even experts can sometimes no longer tell the difference between CGI and real life. It’s been that way ever since Jurassic Park hit the big screen.
Venting against advancing technology may be warranted (look what it’s done to the environment in the past 100 years)… but also futile. I’m not going to give up my word processor and laser printer for a typewriter. I’m not going to give up my calculator for a slide rule or abacus. I’m not going to give up my automobile for a horse-drawn carriage. (Would you?)
I can understand people who make models by hand getting upset at people using A.I. to do the job. No, the A.I. work is not “slop” (if the user does it right). Their work is not “garbage”… nor any other biased, angry derogatory term someone wants to throw at it. A.I. is the next generation of computer tools. I will admit I get VERY tired of the actual SLOP we regularly find on YouTube, where the poster is too lazy and incompetent to double-check the voice-over and sub-text. But well-done A.I. is well… impressive. And I for one am not going to NOT use A.I. because some Blender modeler wants to take the next 3 weeks to create what I can create with A.I. tools in 30 minutes.
It’s not a matter of being lazy or sloppy. It is a matter of using the tools that are available to us to do the job better and faster. Now when it comes to contests, that’s admittedly a can of worms. For one thing: it is sometimes impossible to tell an A.I. item from a hand-created item. There is a good chance the A.I. item will be more detailed and more impressive than a hand-created item… which is what people are complaining about. I DO AGREE that 3D modeler contests should state up-front whether A.I. items are allowed or not allowed… and IF allowed there should be separate categories for A.I. items and hand-tooled items. But don’t expect that someone won’t cheat. That would be very naive.
Consider this though: There are people who once used line-by-line computer code to create 3D objects (and still do). Do they have valid reason to complain because someone uses BLENDER to do the same thing, faster and easier? That’s a question to consider.
In the end game, trying to stop A.I. is like trying to stop a titanium freight train. Good luck with that. Don’t be surprised when your horse and buggy is run over by a semi truck. Technology will push onward and increase… until it either self-destructs or is destroyed.
In the meantime, I’m not sure I have a solution to this A.I. vs Human creation issue. I don’t have a way to keep people from cheating in contests. (People have always cheated in contests, long before A.I.) I know that A.I. when used properly still contains a significant element of human ingenuity and creativity. When used improperly it produces the garbage we regularly see on YouTube. But seriously: when I download and print a nifty dragon from MakerWorld, I don’t give a hoot whether it was hand-designed or A.I. created. I still enjoy it.
The reality is that A.I. has been around a LOT longer than most people think it has. It is already involved in a LOT more of the Internet than people would believe… and will become a lot MORE involved as time passes. I would predict that whether to allow A.I. or not will soon become as moot a point as the issue of whether or not automobiles should be allowed on the road. Methinks anti-A.I. folks are fighting a losing battle, and the sooner they wake up to that reality, the less stressed out they’ll be. Because let’s be honest: A.I. isn’t going to be used any less as time passes. People can rant against A.I. all they want, but such is an exercise of futility.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but whether we love A.I., hate A.I. or are indifferent… it is increasingly becoming a standard part of society. Science fiction has been predicting this for decades. Welcome to the age of science fiction become science fact.
I’m not even sure I’m reacting to the OP’s idea, but I interpreted it to be insulting. As an Industrial Design here’s my perspective, most fashion based 3D prints have always been “slop” aka the use of valuable raw materials and intellectual resources to make something that had nothing but distraction value.
or would you prefer a 