Random Spiel, Creating for the Algorithms to See
It's a rant about how hard it really is for new artists to get a name for themselves now than before AI an algorithms were a thing.
The overbearing algorithm that rules the social media is part of the problem. Generally, content that keep an audience glued to the site longer and engaged get more exposure and this benefits extend to their respective authors. Once a content is published, there's a small window of seconds to minutes that it's going to be on top of someone's random feed before it fades into obscurity given the high traffic of content being published around the same time and competing for the spotlight.
So your pretty picture has to generate some likes / views / comments and other forms of engagement to convince the algorithm that it's worth something and therefore needs to be put longer on a spotlight until it doesn't. This where small content creators struggle with because their works are never going to be readily accessible on a lot of people's feed due to low follow count. That's why big creators eventually get bigger because it's a positive feedback loop as the algorithm is convinced that as more followers of that creator can see and interact with their new content, it will get more screen time even on discovery searches and recommended lists for non-followers.
Do you see why it's a steep hill for small creators even if their content is something you find amazing? as long as it doesn't reach the threshold interactions, the algorithm will just push it back to obscurity.
The algorithm also picks favorites based on usage of the platforms new features. Remember with Instagram introduced reels? shot video content got more exposure and creators have to adapt to the changes or fade. From static pictures of how to do this art style to a few seconds of time lapsed videos showing the exact same thing. It's not that the core of the content changed, it's just the manner of delivery that does and the algorithm rewards the author for it. I noticed pattern since the reels became a thing the number of random accounts interacting with my IG dropped in frequency but it's not like I got a lot of organic followers to begin with. There's probably more bots and dead accounts on my follower count than real people.
Whoever pumps out content regularly and generates a lot of impressions per content gets the cake. The algorithm will reward accounts that produce content that keeps more users scrolling for more. In the field of art, the reason why generated AI images and their authors have an edge is how relatively good on first impressions the images look without undergoing scrutiny from an experienced artists. It's not we can expect the average person to distinguish the flaws in anatomy and lighting on a piece at a first glance because it's just see a picture I want I press like. And people online generally don't have the attention span or want to be burdened by the small details. So what if it's AI? it looks like a hot chick I'll like. And you amplify this attitude to countless users interacting with the same author and their content, you get the algorithm convinced it's worth something.
Artists that don't rely on prompt making and button smashing are at a disadvantage because works that are created with a soul take more time which the algorithms don't have the slightest fucks to give in their decision making. It's always favoring accounts that produce piece that get more accounts engaged and generated from images can be made within a short amount of time while the artist is struggling with an art block.
This is the game. Those AI artists are playing it better and the algorithm is in their favor but this is still the game.
Looking back, I keep repeating the same cycle of regret at which I should've just done something sooners and more before in the past before the advent of AI. Starting to make a name for yourself as an artist out there is much harder now than it is before because of the algorithm game. And this don't mix well with creativity because it's not a question of whether you're making art for the algorithms or for the people you really want to reach your art with?
2000-2019 era was the golden age where hobby artists got a better shot and making a name for themselves because it was skill that can bring people more eyes to their work and on the front of the trending page. Now it's just who can prompt a pretty picture faster and some people that don't use AI on popular art sites like Deviantart.
If anyone is interested in mainstream digital art space news, you probably encountered news like prominent artist X reveals they are using AI on their workflow, how shocking. But I see it as a symptom of artists adapting to the game and it's even more pressing to see the artists engaged with this activity are already established enough that they don't even need AI aid.
And still, even with this climate I find myself head banging the wall just doing my self study art hobby because it's still an adapt or fade away. Get good, get better than whatever the AI comes up with or find a style crafted with a story of your own creativity. There's no stopping AI since it's already out there. You do you.
Thanks for your time.
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My experience here was cool. Always felt like the actual art scene here didn't care for me too much, but it was really easy to develop my own audience. You say AI but I think the decline started with NFT. AI is just another nail in the coffin.
It was this and then coming to a point where I get comfortable stagnating. The payouts are nice but eventually it's a saturated platform where you see the same names over and over again especially after people leave more. A loss for a space where more artists pour in diverse forms of visual art styles, now it's just AI images, NFTs and hobby level illustrations, nothing inherently wrong about this but it's just lacking in stimulus. The artists I knew that were active before were posting because they love what they do and less about the payout which added more depth at what they share here. There are still folks like that here, just not many.
There a bigger world out there and whenever I feel shit about my numbers not gaining more view or follower count after hours to weeks of doing something, I see a random artist on my feed with art that is X times better and their metrics severely low on patrons ah, so even if I reach their level I'd still not amount to much on the digits whereas if I look an "AI artist" account that can post 3x a day which the algorithm likes, they can reach more people and rack up some counts even if botted it all adds up. I just want to get good and measure up to other artists working at commercial industry level while retaining the hobby status.
Yeah. Pointed it out in a post once or twice. Can grow at a faster pace than the platform here. Commence boredom.
Art seen here struggles mainly because the money is in advertising. So they do all that SPL fan art and now Holozing.
NFT was a shit show. They were buying pixelated pictures of rocks. We had punks? Something like that. Why would I invest even an ounce of energy into actual work if a few lazy pixels are my competition and I can't compete. That shit is all worthless now, and nobody cares. Real artist steps up and has to deal with the damage those people created.
AI is just all that nonsense on steroids.
I wanted to get into this too but there's that side where I ask if I'm creating because I really am a fan of the art work inspired from or it's just the payout. I see some characters that I'd want to make my own version (fan art) but I can't make peace with the idea that profit motive vs creating because I really am invested in the work.
We're not the target market and this market had money flowing in it. It was a phase and some people made money and some people chalked the experience to an expensive tuition with their life savings. If I look the digital artists from the mainstream platforms prior to 2020, provided they still do art, they are thriving because of the fan base they built. Now it's hard to get anything seen without competing to accounts that can produce more than 1 work a day and flood the front page. And the masters take can take up weeks to years to get a good piece out in the old days.
This is so important to talk about. Artists much adapt or die.
Create art that AI can't create. Beat the algo into pulp with human creativity.
I just posted a video on the same idea. Looking at the same existential threat that photography posed to portrait artists back in the early days of photography. The birth of impressionism. Renoir et al.
In hindsight, it was a disruption because the patrons or folks that want their portraits done appreciate art different than artists do and these are the people that have money to give the artist some food on the table. I see a similar situation now but with more added nuisance. But even consumers will change their wants and adapt to the saturated market to seek novelty. When pictures from these cameras became more common, the ones that have funds for luxury now opted to portraits again because less people do it. Art is alive like that, we just adapt to the times as we are artists and consumers of art too.
Yes exactly the point. We must adapt or perish as creators of any form of art. Sometimes it's the inaccuracy and errors that make art human. AI can't do that...yet!
There's always an artist to make that an AI can't do. I always admire those artists who passionately create a piece out of their brilliant mind.
Thanks for your patronage for those artists, it means a lot.
That's long been a problem with social media, without a way to keep your material at the top it slips down the list into obscurity. It happens here on Hive all the time when someone is just starting out. AI shows a lot of potential to help create and to market, but it's still the same game. You have to get eyes on your material to really do well. I don't even bother with X anymore, it's a waste of time from my personal standpoint!
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AI really doing more harm than good at this point.
Jist that the harm is to a selected group of people...
The minority I'd say...
We certainly have to adapt to these things or risk being swallowed up in the craziness.