It is not long ago that every social and image search platform was flooded with fake AI projects posted by non-crafters. It was quite a bad scrolling time, anyway!
With increasing awareness among enthusiasts and backlash from crafters and artists, almost every platform is now dynamically purifying its feeds from AI junk.
Even for an internet-hooked person like me, now there are quite a few incidents of catching such an eye-catching image.
Pinterest even specifically launched a new algorithm to identify images generated by AI and to put them in the dark corner of their feed. Though it was initially a bit imperfect, they are, of course, making it good to go. Meta is also working on similar stuff.
But recently, I have been noticing a large number of craft thumbnails and images that stand in the middle of being AI-generated and physically photographed. These are the result of so-called “AI Image Enhancers.” The initial use, however, was quite simplistic in this case.
Like, for example, you have prepared a knitted scarf but don’t want to reveal yourself wearing it. The AI would make a photo of a woman wearing that scarf in a nice scenery behind.
I also found a few creators showing a craft full of details, but the one actually taught was a basic version of that. There are similarly many cases I can discuss with you. But the thing is, crafters are using it more abundantly than previously did.
Whenever you notice a high amount of saturation, unusual temperature, or smoothness in a craft thumbnail, I bet you, it is either AI-enhanced or generated by it.
Like, who is so free to make tens of similar craft plushies and place them on a table just for one photograph?
So, in this post, I wish to discuss what the possible concerns are when using AI as a middleman between your creativity and the individual who wants to remake your craft.
Or, should you use an AI enhancer as a craft creator? I have also come up with little soultions you can consider. That’s why you must read till the end!
Concern #1: Lack of Trust in Visitors – It is AI!
By reading many of the comments under the posted images that lead to fake AI-written instructions of knitting patterns (though most blocked the comment option completely!), I found one thing – people simply were unhappy! With that said, when you use an enhanced image as a thumbnail of your project, one cannot decide whether the image is still completely:
- An imagination of AI
- Or uploaded by a pure workaholic crafter who spent hours designing, making, and then shooting the making of that craft item.
In this age of the internet, where people prefer short videos more, getting attention for distrustful content seems impossible.
This usually does not affect that much to the crafters who have already obtained a proper reputation in the community. Though I am pretty sure they won’t use such tools in the first place. A study conducted says “90% of Consumers Want Transparency on AI Images.”
Still, a newly-come crafter simply loses trust in their projects, and hence, your visibility goes down and down. This was the first suggestion I had to give to a crafter when I first encountered that case.
Concern #2: Search Platforms in Action – You Can Lose Visibility At All
Every crafter who wants online visibility and appreciation of their work cannot help but look for major platforms like Google, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok, etc.
To inform, all of them now have quite strict barriers against any suspicious-looking pictures (ones that are even close to be AI-modified). So, if they flag your content through automatic filters, they would decrease the visibility.
When you lose visibility, you lose the chance of engagement, and that’s all; your effort gets lost.
We have practically observed that pattern when our real stuff was mistakenly flagged, which caused a decline in visitors. Though it was solved soon, the impact was drastic.
Concern #3: Expectations VS Reality
AI images almost always show exaggerated details. It has built a subconscious rise in the overall expectations of the enthusiasts.
Even though some crafters tackled this by recreating an exact craft in an AI image, it should be difficult for most. Nowadays, even I feel like the cutest crafts do not seem that attractive.
Moreover, it will restrict your own creativity. The real handmade item may look:
- Less saturated
- a bit uneven (which is normal for crafts)
- simpler
So, you should go with that. If a person even has a 1% hope of getting something different from what you made, that will speed up the bad reviewing rate. This becomes even worse when you try to sell the stuff on Etsy, when money is involved, people are more cautious.
Concern #4: We Lessen the Value of Crafting
I think there is a limit to what humans can achieve with a limited set of tools and time.
Crafting has always been about recycling stuff and finding new ways to make things with simple stuff. A small imperfection is what shows a thing is handmade. Otherwise a 3D print is what you have.
So, showing your craft photographs this way does not seem to add any value. You must hope for improving the core look of your own crafts for such a competitive period; otherwise, your stuff may get lost.
What to DO Instead?
With all that said, in my opinion, using an AI enhancer in the long run won’t be beneficial to craft creators. At least, not in a decisive way. Now the question is: in such a crowd, how do you protect trust, learning, and value while still surviving online platforms? Here are some of my suggestions:
1. Use traditional image enhancer tools: You can ask your editor to play with temperature, tint, saturation, brightness, and similar parameters. They can greatly enhance the look of your craft photograph.
There are many tools available that compensate for the camera quality by smoothing the image and increasing resolution. Believe it, as a craft enthusiast, I naturally get attracted to non-AI-modified stuff.
2. Show the Process, Not Just the Result: People are kind of desperate about the finished craft model due to the AI wave. Images of finished craft might lie.
So, even a single photo of:
- half-finished craft
- tools beside the work
- Your signature workspace
Can lead to more trust, and you can stand out. Avoid prompting AI to make an image of the subject in the hands of a woman.
3. Use AI Enhancer Only to Change Surroundings – Not Finished Item: Use AI as a supportive agent, not as a substitute. For example, if you are making a craft for Christmas, ask AI to add some pinecones to the table or make the background vivid. Believe me, AIs are so good at making life-like portraits, not handmade crafts.
Current AIs can also bring a model to different scenes and change the state a bit (like add the eyes and a simple mouth), you can use these slight changes.
4. Be Transparent: “Photo enhanced for lighting. Craft is a real finished item.” does not reduce credibility. It increases it. People don’t hate AI tools. They hate being misled. So, while using AI, just keep in mind that if you were to make that thing, would you bother to click? That’s all for today.
5. Become A Featured Crafter at Crafts Hive: If you are a video tutorial creator, you can let your tutorials get featured at Crafts Hive. Then we take care of promoting your craft guides for free in the best possible ways. Learn more about our “Become A Featured Crafter” program.
