Hi all,
Going on with "The Deep" series around the Lovecraftian/Cthulhu vibe...
Before all that Ai mess, I worked on the Deep series with Ai in the workflow as experiments, used it for compo/palette/details but I'll just went purely traditional with this one, for obvious reasons...
I won't go too "deep" ;) within the use of Ai, but I guess now is a good time to share some of my opinions on this:
as most people here, I think that straight Ai outputs, -mostly on sites like Artstation- must be in a whole separated category or not here at all.
I won't even cover my point of view on the "Ai bundles" in the market place, it is just a joke, and insulting for all content creators.
The very presence of these Ai bundles downgrades instantly the quality of all proper kits or tutorials around.
Artstation should not be the place to sell this kind of stuff, regulations are needed.

Quite frankly I'm not sure "no Ai" is the solution but more "how can we live with it" in a regulated and transparent environment where guides and rules applies.
People publishing straight Midj outputs published with no Ai mention in the description, obviously using known artist names/styles should be blamed and perhaps even banned, Artstation should not be the place for this.
I even saw here recently a clear Midj output with perhaps 10% of paintover in the corner, and the guy clearly made "sketches" on paper after the output was done, to mimic it was a well though process...
Apart from the fact that it is quite sad, it will be difficult to sort out this kind of post, as the post creator was not transparent about his process.
Yes Artstation and a lot of other similar sites have some responsabilities in this wave of complaints, but we also need as artists to take our own responsabilities.
Before that Ai mess, I did follow some rules myself when I used some Ai actually in my "Deep" series for experimenting what I qualify this new "tool", but in my opinion the younger artists should stay away from it and start learning the fundamentals before anything...:
-If you used even just 10% of the frame with Ai, you should mention it.
-Control it, do not let the Ai decide.
-Use the various outputs you get a bit like you would from a photographic bundle/pack to integrate in your already thought/planned frame (a bit like mattepainting/photobashing really).
-Never use an artist name in prompt(mostly the contemporary ones), just descriptions are more than enough now to get results.
-Why not using willingly just your own frames/sketches to start generating from?
-If you want to post/publish something here using Ai, the time spent on the frame even using some Ai parts here and there should be the same as if no Ai was used, it still need work/integration paintover -> the creative input should always be coming from you!!

It should be just a tool, not the hand of the creator itself.

For the younger/new in the industry, I understand that this can feel frightening, but stay strong!
Artists had to face in the last 30 years with lots of "technological breakthrough" but in the end, you have the control.
The machine will always be a tool, this is all coming from our own will, and what we make of our time.
My advice would be to just continue working hard using all sorts of mediums to develop your skills,
the most important thing is to enjoy creating!
I don't see how puting a text in a box can be qualified fun compared to the pleasure of solving visual questions on you own, with your own knowledge and skills.
Whatever happens, it is your passion, motivation, dedication and creativity that will drives you.

Stay strong!

-Syllo