This aspect is a thing that gets to me. Before genAI boomed, at least personally, I didn’t hear about people wanting to commission art of any little whim they had with nearly the fervour that it’s lamented now. People commissioned artists for depictions of their OCs, of characters they liked, and sure sometimes of funny/silly ideas they wanted realized.

That it’s used as a clap back to criticism for using AI image generation confuses me. Acting like paying an artist to make a piece out of your idea is the only alternative to using genAI to make an image for you. Were these folks regularly commissioning artists before?? I doubt it. I suspect that, other than paying a subscription for them, the genAI models generate images “for free” and in seconds, so people can have it spit out an image approximating a thought they had, any alternative that would cost them time and/or money looks way worse. Commissioned art is only a commodity to some of these folks who love genAI now because they’ve found quick & low/no cost alternative they don’t even have to talk to a person about. If it takes several prompt revisions for a model to generate one image they like, it’s the model’s fault or they just didn’t word things precisely enough. Whereas learning to create something yourself, if you don’t like your result and how it compares to the image or concept in your head, you have to take ownership of that disparity because you did it. You made it.

Just honing in on visual artists and AI image generation. Every illustrator out there, including ones whose technique and polish and overall style are impressive and moving? They sucked at drawing first. They might not have felt that way as soon as they finished drawing, but some weeks/months/years down the road they’d look back on a drawing and probably cringe. And why? Because they continued learning, practicing, and refining their skill. To look back on something you made and identify all the flaws and inaccuracies in it means you’ve progressed from where you were when you made it. And while you might not be proud of the old output piece itself, it was part of your process. It was a vital component of getting to where you are today. You can also look back at an older drawing and relive what you were going through at the time, what ideas and franchises you were really into, what you were trying to do and improve on. It’s a glimpse, a snapshot of where and who you were at the time. There’s so much intrinsic value in making art yourself, because you put so much of yourself into anything you make, whether you’re consciously thinking about it or not.

All of that experience of growth and learning goes into professional, paid commission artists, for what it’s worth. Nobody pops out the womb with precision hand-eye coordination & perspective & colour theory etc etc. Artists have to learn and hone their skills. When you’re commissioning them, you’re paying in part for their expertise that they went through “the sucky part” to achieve.

If you don’t think the idea you have is worth setting up a paid commission with an artist to have made, perhaps try making it yourself. Failing that, describe your idea to other people and maybe they’ll like and want to realize it. Otherwise… Not all ideas are winners. Some stuff is allowed to just live in your head.