In the writing of this thread, I became aware that The Paper Project used Mind Journey to create its textures. I want to acknowledge the elements I have unknowingly used in my work and state that I personally do not feel comfortable with using 'AI'-generated material, especially from sources like Mind Journey. 'AI' created elements are a bit different than so-called 'AI' 'art', but it is still not something I am willing to engage with. I am not making changes to things already released, but I will no longer use this resource in future work, and if I do return to any of these projects for updates, I will use different backgrounds. 

I have to acknowledge that I did not do my due diligence in sourcing the assets I used and I need to be more careful and thorough in future. This is something anyone who cares about this sort of thing needs to be aware of as it is becoming more prolific with DriveThruRPG and itch.io being filled with various 'AI'-generated art packs. The proliferation of these art packs, even for explicitly indie and cyberpunk games, actually lead to me walking away from a project that would have had the potential of me cataloguing such packs alongside human creations - something I was not comfortable putting my limited time and capacity into.

I want to be clear that I bear no ill will to the Loreshaper (or the platforms referenced above) and acknowledge that more effort has gone into the creation of The Paper Project resource than so-called 'AI' 'art' and that it is a collection of elements to be used with aspects of human creation. It is simply the fact that there are paper textures and backgrounds created by artists available and Mind Journey being at the forefront of the exploitative and damaging for artists and art as a whole, in my own and the opinion of many artists and creators.

For a recent example of how 'AI' 'Art' is creeping into the mainstream of TTRPGs, look at this articlefrom 7th March 2023 from Pelgraine Press and the respected game designer, Robin D. Laws, proposing using 'AI' 'art' software, such as Stable Diffusion, for "Legions of Carcosa, the foe and creature book for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game ". In my opinion, the arguments the article makes are milquetoast and ignore the core issues with 'AI' 'art', its effect on human artists and their ability to survive, and just how utterly shithouse it looks. Seriously, the piece in the article is for sure horrifying, but in every other way than it is described and intended. 

I firmly believe that 'AI' 'art' needs to be treated with comparably vocal and energetic opposition as NFTs. They both hold as much value and artistry in the end. This is not something I am interested in debating and is for each to make their own choices.

I do acknowledge that machine learning is and can be a tool that we can benefit from, but not like this.

***

There are oceans of public domain, creative commons, etc. free resources and countless incredible and far too reasonably priced artists out there with Patreons full of amazing art for as little as $1 a month. 

Check out the Images section of the frankly upsettingly brilliant Annotated Archive of Game Design Resources curated by Goblin Archives.