I love this new ironetic site. To give proper credit, its design, construction and the concept of using 1950’s phrases and comic illustration was all Jai. She produced the initial AI images of women in 1950’s attire sitting in vintage kitchens with their cats while typing on modern laptops. I was hooked instantly. The wording you see on the home page now is almost exactly the same as she wrote it in the first draft. We even talked about hiring a well-known artist (a human one, I mean) to do the home page. That is still the dream.

I am well aware of the controversy surrounding AI images. I realize it is not “art” in the sense that something created by a human author is. Using image diffusion is like typing up an email and clicking “send” rather than mailing someone a hand-written letter in a wax-sealed envelope. It is like signing a manufactured greeting card with a pre-written message printed on it when you could have inked an original message instead. Using an AI image is like bringing your kid home a happy meal from the drive-through rather than cooking them a home-made dinner. All of those are shortcuts that many of us take regularly.

I have read stories on reddit of aspiring artists losing hope of ever earning a living in their chosen field after seeing what image diffusion can do. I do know what that specific type of hopelessness feels like. I once aspired to be an artist. In my case, I wanted to draw comic books. People often told me I was talented at drawing, but I never felt as though my style was good enough to see print. I tried doing the ironetic illustrations myself, but the disappointing truth is… AI draws better than me.

In my vision for this site, though, I am able to commission well-known comic book artists to create all-original artwork to replace every single AI “concept” image I used. I don’t know if ironetic will always look like this, though, or if some new idea will pop into my mind. Until then, ironetic will “forge ahead” with AI images. I can make them quickly and cheaply and they get my points across with at least some of the feel I am looking to create.

I am going to keep drawing, though, and maybe I will replace some of these images with my own artwork even if I can’t afford to hire the big names in comic illustration.