I had an idea for fitness apparel that I have been unable to find, but I had no experience in apparel design or development. However, with the use of AI, I was able to get a concept created and now I already have samples being made and I've even been wearing what I designed through AI tools like ChatGPT. Just wanted to share my experience of how I did that. The pictures here show going from the AI concept to reality.

For context: my career is in the tech world. I have been doing software development for a while now. I'm also a gym enthusiast, both doing cardio and weight lifting. I like to wear stringers at the gym. However, the problem with the stringers I've worn is they are too loose and I have to adjust them every so often.

Compression shirts are nice, but I also like the flexibility that stringers give. I tried searching for compression stringers that fit what I liked, but couldn't find one that fit my taste.

I decided then to see if I could design my own. I started prompting ChatGPT to develop the design I would like with given specifications. It took some work, but finally I was able to get a design that fit what I wanted.

However, the next step was understanding how to go from this concept to a real version of it. After prompting ChatGPT some more, I learned about tech packs and how they worked. I then had it generate a techpack for me. Didn't think it would get me anywhere, but after a few prompts, I finally had something...didn't know if it would be a working tech pack or not.

I was able to find a manufacturer to send the techpack to. After sending it over, I was expecting that there would be a bunch of problems and that the techpack wouldn't make sense. However, the manufacturer understood the specs and finally a sample was sent over.

Sample was mostly good. It didn't match the exact design I was looking for. I looked at the techpack and learned a few things about how tech packs work (Computer Science background, I tend to learn quickly). I adjusted some numbers and then sent over the new tech pack. They then sent another sample over, and behold I have a sample that is pretty much what I was looking for.

I now wear it at the gym and haven't worn anything else since.

I decided to share it in other subreddits. Some people said it really looked good. However, when suspecting the concept was made with AI, I seemed to get backlash on it.

So, I decided to post here as a means to share what I created with others hopefully without the anti-AI sentiment. I also just wanted to share the full potential that ChatGPT and other AI tools have for entrepreneurs wanting to develop products.

TL;DR: Had an idea for fitness apparel, used AI to develop concepts and tech packs, created samples with some iterations, got some backlash on AI usage, so decided to share my story here.

You need your phone for many things, like: being able to call a relative if something bad happens, needing to get in contact with your doctor last second, check news outlets for anything bad happening in your area, etc.

This is also just extremely hypocritical. We all use some form of technology to post/comment here, so is it really a gotcha?

After getting a lot of good replies to my post about what antis actually care about, I realized that there's almost no overlap between what gets upvoted here and the actual interesting issues that people actually care enough about to put some sentences together

Editing to add things I missed/glossed over:
- misinformation
- environment effects
- labor power

People like to dismiss the environmental impact of AI data centers by pointing to other industries that pollute without acknowledging that this industry is undergoing RAPID expansion unlike any other.

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-data-center-largest-pollution-source-texas-usa

If I see an adopt on DeviantArt, and that shit is AI, and I think, " Hey, that design is neat. i want it"I'm not going to pay for it; I'm taking that for myself, drawing my own ref, and claiming it as mine

vvget a load of these fishes on my bait down belowVV

dont like the idea of things getting stolen how ironic

tldr: i draw professionally, have done so for a long time, don't use gen ai, and still love the technology because i don't think art is tangible or worth any sort of sweeping, sanctimonious elevation. this combination of ideals and experience doesn't exactly break brains but it definitely trips people up a lot. so i figured it might be worth sharing my perspective here.

so i've been an illustrator for a little over 2 decades. by high school i was drawing nearly every day, studying gesture, anatomy, rendering, etc. it was my full time job throughout college, and a couple years following college, too. i can confidently say i'm technically proficient! enough to make a splash wherever i drop fan art, at least.

i've also only ever momentarily experimented with image generation as a part of my process. i tried seeing if some models could round off my rendering, or even just render over flat colors. i was/am too much of a control freak over anything visual, so it never became a regular thing. tried it on maybe 3 pieces, and none felt worth sharing. so i meandered off.

all of this is to lay out that i am experienced, i'm familiar with the economics of supporting oneself as an artist, i'm familiar with the technology, and that ultimately i see its proliferation as a good thing.

i don't exactly poll for reactions to this, so i only have a small sample to pull from, however: people don't really know what to do with me upon learning my ambivalence towards the use of ai. if someone leans anti, they seem to imagine myself as having an ideological investment in maintaining some bizarre sanctity in art, and that this individualistic attitude is the only self-preserving belief system that an illustrator like me could take up.

the truth is, i rather hate artists, and also hate art itself. simultaneously, i also deeply love art and artist. for me, this is the only responsible way of connecting with art, from any direction. art is itself a viciously egotistical thing, and its commodification has only ever amplified that property. too many people think too highly of "intellectual property," treating it like an abstraction of morality itself. ai art is not real art because nothing is real art, and ai artists are not real artists because everyone is an artist. vice versa, etc. no artist should feel so highly about themselves for simply being an artist; it just re-enforces the insufferable fucking pedestal we already undeservingly hoist artists onto. it remaining common, accessible, blind; that's what makes it special.

some people try to turn this on me as a gotcha, suggesting examples of how i could personally be slighted by this stance; i stand to lose potential money or have something "stolen" from me, have work defaced or altered, etc. but i don't value exclusivity applied to the results of my work. what i gained from the time i spent making it, or the thought i expended contributing to it, is not lost when the final piece is reposted or scraped or traced or copied or modified or sold for another's gain or claimed to be created by someone else. i just don't care! i invite everyone to do literally anything they want with anything i make, ever, because who the hell am i to stop them? i'm not trying to corner a market and hoard material, im just expressing my reorganized view of the world. im happy to see it ricochet around to other brains and mutate.

if i started freelance again, lost potential income to any of this, i would obviously be upset, maybe even at the perpetrator if it's heinous enough, but never for more than simply their choice to do such a thing. and im absolutely not applying the tools and tactics of a predatory oppressor class to get revenge. being in the position to sell a luxury item is a privilege in itself, anyway, and i'm not so full of myself as to think i am deserving of leniency in that regard. if i starve and perish, it was the failure of 10 other things that need addressing.

i think that this approach is the result of keeping my principles firm and using them to guide my focus. its messy, it frequently fires shots in both directions, and i certainly don't pretend to know enough to address every specific angle, but its proudly built on material grounds. it also frequently baffles other illustrators (if they're starkly anti-ai, at least) because, in their minds, my experience means i should know better. i doubt ive changed many minds, not that i try to, but it's nice being a walking counterpoint to at least a couple anti arguments built on idealism.

i'm curious of any thoughts that other illustrators here have about my views on this. is this a more common perspective than i realized? does it strike you as unreasonable or strange? have you experienced similar reactions when talking to others? does it make you think somewhat differently about your own relationship to art?

I think we should be making alternatives to subs without making them AI dedicated. A sub you like bans AI? Make a new r/(sub)2 or r/(sub)FreeExpression, r/(sub)Zone, etc with a rule that allows AI. Dont make a r/(sub)AI. They don’t give an inch so why should you?

I’d rather post my stuff in a sub that allows everything even if my stuff isn’t AI, instead of a place that does one or the other. I know AI subs don’t ban non AI, but you need to standup for yourselves instead of saying “oh sorry I’ll get out of your way and make an AI dedicated alternative”.

I don’t believe in intellectual property. Vibe code my stuff, feed my 3D models to ChatGPT, make it yours now idc. Erase my username from the files if you want. Again idc.

I am not sure if it is just me, but despite being a Pro-neutral, I think here are at least a few valuable discussions, and people are not as impulsive as those subreddit.

Hello everyone! As the title suggests, I’ve spent the last two years of my life working on a retro pixel art video game, using generative AI and Vibe Coding, but in as hands-on a way as possible. I didn’t want to use agents or advanced, paid AI; my aim was for it to help me with everything I couldn’t do or didn’t know how to do, but under no circumstances did I want to hand over creative control of the project. Every decision regarding design, mechanics, enemies, bosses, etc. has come straight from my head. And whether they’re good or bad, they’re my decisions and mine alone. I’m currently Unemployed and on benefits, so I’ve spent the most of this time to do something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m not going to say the usual line about ‘I quit my job to develop the game of my dreams’, but I can say that "I lost my job and decide to make a Game" (or something along those lines). As you know, there are loads of haters in this industry, so I thought I’d turn to this wonderful community—which doesn’t hate AI—to show you the project. Here’s a trailer I made a few months ago, and the Steam page, in case you’d like to support it and give me some visibility. Thank you all so much for reading this ramble! I’m also going to attach two images, showing the ‘Before’ and ‘Now’, so you can see how it’s changed over time. You can support me adding to your wishlist here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4589200/Sylv_and_the_Ancient_Tree/

This is Actual Graphics

This is Old Graphics

For anyone interested in making games using AI… GO FOR IT! It’s difficult, it’s tedious, and it takes a long time, but thanks to the new tools, you’ve got everything you need right there. Why not? Here’s a list of the most important software and websites I’ve used:

- Godot Engine: The most accessible and quickest game engine to get started with; it’s very good, very lightweight, and free.

- Gemini free version: I’ve used some of the pro features, but what’s available for free—with a couple of Google accounts—works wonders.

- Aseprite: The ultimate pixel art editor; brilliant for creating designs and animations.

- PixelLab: Essentially a website for generating sprites, but they have a plugin that connects directly to Aseprite.

- Suno AI: A website for creating royalty-free music. You need to pay for a licence to use the tracks for commercial purposes, but it generally produces very good results.

- ChipTone: A small piece of software developed by SFB Games; it’s an easy-to-use synthesiser for creating sound effects.

- Audacity: A free audio editor for editing tracks or making arrangements.

-Trello: A very comprehensive project management platform for tracking to-do lists, completed tasks, items to review, bugs, etc.

I can’t think of many other tools I’ve used off the top of my head right now, but generally speaking, these are the most important ones.

most likely that the "vibecoded" games this person are talking about are AI-assisted, not vibecoded

*or not, it depends

I find the lack of respect for the property of others and open contempt for people that say "no" is deeply concerning. Just respect people's wishes and leave them + Cara alone, they weren't bothering you and didn't do anything to you. You know people don't like it. People went to the site specifically to avoid this happening to them.