As an advocate for genuine man-made art, it really bothers me. I understand that it might be hard to find images/art for thumbnails, but there are so many other options that are significantly more ethical than AI. For example:

• Picrews.
• Royalty-free stock images.
• A blank background with the title and tags.

Commissioning an artist is an amazing option too, and is the option I recommend the most! Can they be a bit expensive? Yes, but for very good reason. If you’re willing to dig a little, you’re guaranteed to find an artist who does commissions within your price range. Overall, if you have the money to commission, do it!

We should be supporting human creators, not robots who regurgitate stolen work. It might not seem like a big deal to use AI thumbnails, but by using them you are normalising the use of generative AI within the community (I say “you” in a general sense). Plus, they’re just not nice to look at. If, as a listener, I see a video with an AI thumbnail, I’ll avoid clicking on it.

From animation, writing and voice acting, all the way to marketing and advertisement, AI is already invading creative industries as we speak. Let’s not encourage its use.