Alternatives To Using AI

For Images

• Picrew is a great resource for character creation.
• Canva has a brush function that you can use for removing or recoloring certain elements of an altready existing image
• Using an already generated AI image is better than using the resources to generate a new one!

For Text

• Create a template for menial text needs you don't enjoy dealing with, such as resumes, cover letters, social media copy, etc. that you can build off of.

I made a comment in reply to someone asking about using AI for OCs and I want to make an "alternatives to AI" list

Youtube Comment I Made

This isn't the same thing exactly, but I make custom MTG cards for my own personal at-home printed proxy cards (not for reproduction or sale to others) and I enjoy the process of finding a piece of real art by a real artist that I enjoy. For my own reference, I include the artist's name at the bottom of the card. If you're looking for specific hair or eye colors to modify, there are lots of easy image editors that will let you make changes like that. As long as you're not posting the edited work online, I think that's a wildly more ethical approach than using AI and all the resources it takes up.

Also, finding non-AI art can be hard these days, but even using an already generated AI image is better than using up those resources to create a new one. But if you search for pre-2024/2023 art on Google, then you can find real art by real artists. I also use reverse image search tools to try and source original artists (since people on Pinterest are ass at crediting artists) Tools like Picrew are also an option for custom character creation. Also, I find the process of trying to create art, even if my art isn't going to look as good as a lot of other artists', still so fulfilling. I started making a minotaur-themed custom art deck for MTG (which is confusing since minotaur is already a creature type but anyway) and in looking up images and stories about the Greek myth of the minotaur, I became kind of hyperfixated and I'm now working on art for a gallery exhibition centered around the myth of the minotaur. Now I'm drawing lots of minotaurs! And mine don't look as cool as the contemporary high fantasy artists and mid-century painters who inspired me, but there is nothing quite like the joy of making stuff myself and learning my own style. You can even work off of digital reference models as a jumping off point. Creating is so much fun, and when you use AI, you outsource that fun. Trying is the most important thing. Don't worry too much about the outcome.