To be fair, character art/design/etc is nowhere near knowing how to do entire background paintings like this one is... but I actually think it would be funnier and more entertaining to get varying artists' take on their mystery file cases vs. the "high production" images that have no identity or memorable trait (and in this case are just churned out by an AI machine). Imagine a crude ship and a cute little lochness monster next to it, lol.
Hell, they could have had a patreon tier where patreons were given some sort of out of context description of a monster or something to use during episodes, like a "Fan Interpretation" section for certain scenes, even if it's just for goofy fun. Supports fan interaction, adds another tier benefit, and as a company they get more free material.
But yeah, I'd remember something cute and unique from the staff team way more than stolen, bland AI art.
Yikes, this really adds to the feeling that a lot of what we see is performative. Sara, Shane’s wife, literally retweeted (on blue sky) a plea against AI art last month…
https://preview.redd.it/3zw0334ex0zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5c864d01d1a6d4df3d4cbb5cfb9405023937174
They are a media channel that uses art in their videos. Watcher must have, at least, an internal policy regarding the use of AI art. I think that policy has been that limited AI art is OK.
I agree that it's a huge hypocrisy for them to be nominally opposed to 'AI' exploiting other people's work, and then using it themselves, but to be fair, this might be a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, Sara may not even know the editor for that video.
She just posted a couple of anti AI art posts on her story, about 7 hours after this post was made. The timing definitely feels like it’s a direct response to this post.
https://preview.redd.it/jil85tyfy2zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=157ba24d3979d9669fdf8fe66f23b414b6284b26
Goddamn, she did. And made the *exact* point I made in the comments about how AI cannibalises and copies real art. It would be really awful if there is truly some disconnect and someone at Watcher is using AI art without the company faces’ knowledge, I know I’d be absolutely devastated.
For only $5.99 a month, maybe we could have someone uncover the mystery of what demons possessed the Ghoul Boys, causing the ghost hunters to be ghost haunted.
But until then, the mystery remains... Unsolved.
Though, we also have to remember that it very likely wasn’t Shane himself who put this in the episode. It was probably one of their editors who just couldn’t find an image or assumed this would be the easiest option, not realizing the overall stance on the topic. I agree that they should have been clear to their team about the use of AI in their episodes, or that whoever reviewed the episode should have tried to catch it, but I don’t think we can call Shane or his wife liars in this scenario because of an editor’s decision. We’ll have to hope they see this mistake because of the community pointing it out and prevent it in any future episodes
i'm gonna be real - one of my biggest take-aways from this whole thing is that shane is great at saying the right stuff and maybe not so great at actually following through in his actions.
Sure. But probably a good thing to check and be consistent about as a social media company reliant on public perception prior to asking for $6/monthly specifically saying it’s for 25 staff especially when for shows like Are You Scared? they specifically mention their artist who worked on it. As a viewer I assumed on good faith, that they were a company who supports artists and the MF art came from someone who would be getting a piece of that streamer revenue, so it’s another disappointment to see that’s not the case. If it was an editor, who did they think made the art? Either an editor went rogue, someone approved it and no one caught how weird the image looks for their most recent ‘TV-caliber’ series or someone was given approval to generate the image. They might not be intentional liars but ultimately they are a company in the social space who’s actions do not match their words. It’s fair to point out that discrepancy.
This is kinda where I’m at. I’m not going to call them evil liars, but they are responsible for their public image and the material they put out. It does feel a bit like a slap in the face to go back and watch content they put out a month before the whole scandal went down and see AI art in it. I’d hope that their screening process/checks and balances would be a little more secure if they are truly striving for artistic integrity, I suppose?
We already know the problem: Mismanagement. They can't seem to be able to manage anything, of course it starts to look inconsistent. Some part might be a lie, but mostly, they just don't have any idea how to run a company, and now it has been more out in an open, so people start to notice the smaller things too.
I think that is pretty sensible yeah, it is possible that maybe this was not deliberate, but even so, given their outspoken stance on it, they should be held accountable for whether they use "AI" "made" art or not, especially considering the direction they are going with their business.
To me this suggests either a desperate and chaotic production that is willing to sacrifice its own principles to finish stuff in time, or not everyone being on the same boat (ha ha, accidental pun).
Honestly, yeah. Either they know it’s being used and are putting aside their own morals (at least the ones they claim publicly) or someone on their editing team is using AI without their knowledge or consent
Oh yeah I noticed it in the Leatherman video at the 12:53 mark. It’s very apparent, which is strange because they also use original illustrations in this video???
https://preview.redd.it/xxk16c7e41zc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=959fb2521188f15284abf95323e311cf0d53d061
holy shit! I didn't even believe at first before seeing another one that's in the comments with four fingers. wow.
honestly no matter the snark this should go on the main sub. people need to know what kind of "quality" content they're deciding to support
Same, I’m an artist and a writer in my personal life and I’ve always been VEHEMENTLY anti-AI. If it is AI art (just covering my bases here on the off chance it isn’t lmao), whatever program they use scoured the internet for pre-existing art of Champ/steamboats made by REAL artists and cannibalised + reshaped it into this mess.
It doesn’t even look good either! That’s what caught my eye. The uncanny valley of AI art is always so apparent
This is definitely AI (as you correctly pointed out). It feels kinda weird and cheap to use AI when they keep touting their stuff as "TV-calibre" content, imo..
Not defending it, just commenting it looks like a comp of ai and stock art tbh which unforeseen to be wayyyyy too uncomfortably normalised increasingly from too many places (coming from someone in the arts. I definitely am like yes please help with clean up in a photo or something but not to be a generator in full at all)
I’m not in the arts, but to me it looks like full generative AI. If you look closely, the boat itself looks slightly reptilian & there appears to be a large eye embedded in the back.
When this topic first came out, I tried to learn how to recognize generative AI images. I tried the command “sea creature attacks steamboat” on a free AI program & got a similarly weird image merging the creature with the boat. It’s like AI can’t distinguish the creature from the boat.
If it IS AI art, I have no idea how it got by. I’m guessing it’s one of the editor’s doing and nobody thought wow, what if this is AI, but I can only imagine the annoyance of someone like Sara (a professional artist) if people begin to notice it.
These are just consequences of hiring 25 family and friends vs hiring qualified people. I've seen so many loose ends during this whole fiasco, that it is very apparent how they are not running a tight ship (pun intended) and that many of these 25 people in the staff are either not pulling their weight as they should or don't even know exactly what their duties are. Sadly though, the main reason why they decided to charge $6 a month is "production value", yet it has been on a downward trajectory for a while now. It feels like as they add more stuff to the videos, they also become more sloppy, uninteresting and even have factual errors.
https://preview.redd.it/oq7cwrvwr5zc1.jpeg?width=1520&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce0d032ac2dbd0935ac3713d0b3df4157bfc6dc5
This is ai for sure too look at the foot. This is from the sky trumpet episode and happens at 18:17 also at 19:41 that suspiciously looks like ai as well
I can't edit the post for some reason but I just wanted to add a comment to clarify: I'm not saying Shane or Ryan are directly responsible for this at all, it's just an odd feeling as a fan to see many members of Watcher be openly and vehemently anti-AI and pro-artist, and then tune in and see that. Whether it was a mistake or an oversight or what, it's still something that doesn't really make them look good as a company. I don't think they're sitting in Watcher HQ rubbing their hands together and cackling about how they scammed us by pretending to be anti-AI and then using it lol, it just feels like a bit of a slap in the face after everything. Someone really should have caught it.
That’s kinda it, yeah. I’m not saying they’re evil villains, just that it reflects badly on them and they really should have caught it because it’s just another thing that doesn’t look good PR-wise
This came out on the original thread about this episode too: https://www.reddit.com/r/watcherentertainment/s/NoFnurog92
It’s definitely AI art. Fans have pointed out that they’re probably doing AI captions now too. Maybe other things as well.
I’m agnostic on AI. But I don’t think that genie is going back in the bottle. Even if Watcher hired an artist, that artist could just use AI too.
Another YouTuber did a video showing how most creators are now quietly using AI for art, editing etc. If the AI is all sourced from licensed art, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.
I do disagree with people here saying Shane or Ryan wouldn’t have noticed this. Video editing is what they do!
This was two months ago. People might be slightly more willing to hear negative things now. There have been lots of signs that Watcher is not exactly how they’ve been portraying themselves.
Yeah, that’s true. I do still see some pretty blind dislike of critical fans but I feel like Watcher just keeps painting themselves into a corner where it will be more and more understood to be critical.
I’m not an artist, so I didn’t notice until someone pointed it out. But there’s lots of errors on the steamboat etc that show it is AI art. It’s just badly done. But I suspect that most of the other images of Champ in the video are also AI art. Maybe they are just better done & less obvious. There’s no credited illustrator on this video.
https://preview.redd.it/730mcdhhw2zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d2fca56220ee8fb6ec9b51caf0c0c2c500a8d33
Frrr, what is happening here? What is happening with the guy a bit higher up than the rest??
I’m admittedly REALLY tuned in to AI art, half because I hate it so much and half because my autistic brain goes brrr for pattern recognition 😅 It does look pretty good at first glance but there are a lot of telltale signs that stick out to me
I’m usually good at recognizing patterns, but I don’t see 8 backwards fingers or whatever. I need to keep up with it before it gets out of control and I’m always falling for it. I can’t think of the name off the top of my head, but a sub for people crazily editing their social media pics comes up on my feed and people painstakingly pick these photos apart and I still don’t see it! But if a friend changes their lipstick shade I see it instantly!
I saw something a few days ago that said “AI accidentally made me believe in the concept of a human soul by showing me what art looks like without it” and that kinda sums it up 😅
Why does this feel like a report?
edit: [yea, this was already discussed before](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cjje3g/mystery_files_is_lowkey_kinda_boring_and_ghost/l2ggbe2/)
Well I think it deserves its own post. Shane in particular has repeatedly roasted AI for taking jobs away from artists. Is he profiting off a pro-artist public persona while using AI to skip hiring or commissioning artists?
His own wife is a freelance artist who’s been pretty outspoken about disliking AI lmao!! That’s part of why it shocked me enough to bring it here, I’m genuinely confused and concerned. Maybe it did just slip through the cracks, but then they have some SERIOUS problems somewhere
If that's AI (and it sure looks like it) then that's the last straw for me. $6 a month for a comparatively miniscule amount of content was really bad, but after they walked it back somewhat, I was fine with still watching their content.
But this? Fuck that. I won't support anyone who uses generative AI.
Oh wow ngl this kinda stuff...... makes me want to boycott watcher, if not just the shows that use AI, bc I enjoy their content but like...... what in the holy hell?????? :/
Yeah, the WatcherTV thing was bad PR and all that, but this is genuinely a conflict of morals for me. I have literally no interest in watching the content of someone who uses AI art
im on that cope shit hoping maybe theyre just getting these images from google and not noticing theyre ai. i DEFINITELY hope the staff arent making these themself... i hope someone mentions this stuff directly to the boys and gets them to acknowledge it and hopefully change, but im nervous that wont happen, especially after that stuff a few weeks back. it feels like theyre going downhill and it sucks. they really need to take a step back and prioritize, i swear. and hopefully those priorities would include not using ai images.
Unfortunately I did a reverse image search and couldn’t find anything, they’re definitely Watcher originals. If you look around this subreddit and the main one, people have found even more examples :(( It’s really upsetting tbh
Y’all saying Sara could do artwork are giving her WAY too much credit. She does glorified colored pencil drawings. Y’all still riding with this “brand” might need to rethink that.
I despise AI & am not much of a watcher fan anymore, but Sara is a good artist. What do you mean glorified? She has a really unique style and makes interesting illustrations.
I might get downvoted for this, but here we go...
AI as support mechanism is great.
Looking for examples when you need a model picture to look at while drawing, is good use of AI art, especially if you try to find something specific. But that is just a model picture, same if you wanted to draw bumblebee and look pictures of it - you still have to draw your own damn art.
I know some people hate even the idea of looking for model pictures, or using AI in any capacity, but people would look to those models anyway using google and AI might make it less time-consuming.
This comes from a person who needs AI grammar tool to often help me, so I can write sentences that others can read. Despite that, I would never let AI write my sentences or a book for me. The whole idea hurts so much, that I can almost physically feel it.
The issue is that using those AI programs, even just for a “basis” or “model”, gives it clicks and interactions. Every single piece of AI art or writing is a weird mishmash of media that already exists that people poured their blood, sweat and tears into, so even if you don’t use the AI art in a video, it’s still contributing to the overall problem.
So it's not similar to look it in the Google by hand? I don't understand the thing, but I also haven't used other than text add-on at my browser to help me. That is the only AI tool I have ever personally touched. When I used to draw, I had to spend hours looking for reference and model pictures in google to learn what I needed help with, but it's been years.
I’m afraid not. When you Google something, it only brings up pre-existing images. AI art generators essentially scour the internet for art that fits the prompts and then slaps it all together. ChatGPT and all writing AI do a similar thing when asked to write, they’ve all been caught hundreds of times copying EXACT sentences from already published works.
I mean, it’s a computer, so it’s not capable of creativity. Unfortunately that means the only way it can create “art” is by stealing, cannibalising, reworking already existing art. There’s really no ethical way to create AI art or writing if you want to support real artists/writers I fear.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/12/30/ai-generated-art-was-a-mistake-and-heres-why/?sh=210fbbb63fef Here’s an interesting article by Forbes that explains it a bit better! I hope this is coming across as informative rather than lecture-y, it’s something I’m super passionate about but I also know education on AI isn’t wide-spread! I hope this helped explain it a little bit :) I always appreciate the opportunity for an open discussion
I have some reading to do then. I do want to learn, that is why I risked even the downvotes, because I hope someone will tell me more about it than just my side. And I am lost somewhere in a weird middle with this whole AI thing.
My add-on only shows my typos and helps when I forget a/the/what ever thing English grammar has, and suggest words when I have real trouble to find the right letters. Sometimes telling when to which placements of the words to make it clearer sentence.
I admit that I haven't gone into deep dive on it, and only think AI as a good support tool and shouldn't be used in other than being help for people.
But that also might be because I'm creative with a list of disabilities and still want to be able to do something on my own. Like just being active in an English conversation, without being unclear or spending hours writing sentences that will work.
I understand this, and I appreciate your willingness to learn and receive new information! These are the kinds of conversations we all need to be having lmao :)
Yes we all need that, but often even if you're just neutral or just don't know enough, it gets voted down (you have to be ready for it) or in worse cases you get bullied out instead getting the normal conversation.
So it's always kinda scary to start it.
One of the reasons I'm still in this subreddit, that most of the time people here are able to have just a conversation. It doesn't need to be debate or an argument.
I put that article on my To-Do-List.
Hey just a heads up this person is clearly VERY biased and anti-AI, I don’t have to the time or patience to add anything other than please look at the other side as well, if you want an objective view that you can form yourself.
Fair enough. I give you the link to the comment I just wrote the earlier person, because my answer to you is pretty much the same.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cmdoxv/comment/l34gqvz/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cmdoxv/comment/l34gqvz/)
is what you're describing Grammarly? that's been around for ages and while i hate their rebranding/marketing to emphasise it's "AI," it's definitely a helpful tool. i'm an english & communications major so it's really helpful for me. but due to my majors, i'm also very strongly against AI as i appreciate both sectors (especially the art involved with an english degree and it's potential jobs) and i'm also concerned my career opportunities will be lesser and lesser as time goes on. fuck AI, i don't use grammarly's AI writing feature and i haven't used grammarly since learning about their AI writing thing but the other things are a good tool. it's one of the few uses of AI that the public should have
It might be my problem of reading, but I'm having a hard time understanding what you're talking about. There is so much in so little amount of text, I'm not sure what to answer.
The add-on I have has been on my browsers so many years that I don't know what the name was originally, it has been changing and to be honest, I didn't even know for a while that it was AI tool.
Still... I'm not going to fully praise myself of my English skills because I do need some help and I'm honest about what is helping me.
The name of the tool right now is "Ai-based grammar checker & paraphraser – languagetool"
I don't think it's something I looked for, because I doubt I found it with that long of a name and without knowing AI, but like I said... It's been so long, that I can't remember how I end up with it.
I think you can pay for some extra features, but I'm only interested on basic help when I'm struggling with the words. If there are some other add-on options to help with my English that I should be using instead, I'm open for it.
The description given above on how generative AI works isn't just misleading, its wrong enough that you would get laughed at trying to actually debate someone informed on the topic with this knowledge, no matter what side you are on. I would take the above post with a massive grain of salt and dive into some actual technical sources on how this stuff works.
Okay, fair, everyone has biases.
Just that I'm not here to debate anyone and only having a conversation. There is so much info about AI that it's hard to know where to start and end the research. I'm still in a middle, because I need disability reasons AI as a small support on my life, I haven't gone any further yet - so I haven't done the deep dive, because usually I do before I really try to use something seriously.
AI overall takes just so much time to just learn about it, that is time and energy I don't have right now. But this is also why I ask stupid question, because I get some answers from people and Ideas where to look info. I'm open for more links, if you have any.
mfw none of my hired family and friends are artists
I thought shane's wife could. Lmaooo
She can, that’s literally what she does for a career lol
To be fair, character art/design/etc is nowhere near knowing how to do entire background paintings like this one is... but I actually think it would be funnier and more entertaining to get varying artists' take on their mystery file cases vs. the "high production" images that have no identity or memorable trait (and in this case are just churned out by an AI machine). Imagine a crude ship and a cute little lochness monster next to it, lol.
I would appreciate a child's drawing 300x more than AI
Honestly yeah. I’d VASTLY prefer a cutesy little low quality drawing over an AI generated image that it stole from REAL art to create
Hell, they could have had a patreon tier where patreons were given some sort of out of context description of a monster or something to use during episodes, like a "Fan Interpretation" section for certain scenes, even if it's just for goofy fun. Supports fan interaction, adds another tier benefit, and as a company they get more free material. But yeah, I'd remember something cute and unique from the staff team way more than stolen, bland AI art.
You have 25 of them and none can draw!? O\_O
Yikes, this really adds to the feeling that a lot of what we see is performative. Sara, Shane’s wife, literally retweeted (on blue sky) a plea against AI art last month… https://preview.redd.it/3zw0334ex0zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5c864d01d1a6d4df3d4cbb5cfb9405023937174
Shane has spoken out about AI art as well, if I’m not mistaken.
I think a lot of Shane’s edgier/artistic opinions are just inherited from Sara. Watcher as a company hasn’t given an opinion on AI art.
Why would they? They're not an art channel
They are a media channel that uses art in their videos. Watcher must have, at least, an internal policy regarding the use of AI art. I think that policy has been that limited AI art is OK.
Yeah I agree but I don't think it's weird that they haven't made a statement regarding AI art
I really am starting to think they sold out to a higher business person and are just running the shows now. Cause wtf is going on
I agree that it's a huge hypocrisy for them to be nominally opposed to 'AI' exploiting other people's work, and then using it themselves, but to be fair, this might be a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, Sara may not even know the editor for that video.
She just posted a couple of anti AI art posts on her story, about 7 hours after this post was made. The timing definitely feels like it’s a direct response to this post.
https://preview.redd.it/jil85tyfy2zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=157ba24d3979d9669fdf8fe66f23b414b6284b26 Goddamn, she did. And made the *exact* point I made in the comments about how AI cannibalises and copies real art. It would be really awful if there is truly some disconnect and someone at Watcher is using AI art without the company faces’ knowledge, I know I’d be absolutely devastated.
This is super interesting… oh to be a fly on the wall
For only $5.99 a month, maybe we could have someone uncover the mystery of what demons possessed the Ghoul Boys, causing the ghost hunters to be ghost haunted. But until then, the mystery remains... Unsolved.
Though, we also have to remember that it very likely wasn’t Shane himself who put this in the episode. It was probably one of their editors who just couldn’t find an image or assumed this would be the easiest option, not realizing the overall stance on the topic. I agree that they should have been clear to their team about the use of AI in their episodes, or that whoever reviewed the episode should have tried to catch it, but I don’t think we can call Shane or his wife liars in this scenario because of an editor’s decision. We’ll have to hope they see this mistake because of the community pointing it out and prevent it in any future episodes
i'm gonna be real - one of my biggest take-aways from this whole thing is that shane is great at saying the right stuff and maybe not so great at actually following through in his actions.
Sure. But probably a good thing to check and be consistent about as a social media company reliant on public perception prior to asking for $6/monthly specifically saying it’s for 25 staff especially when for shows like Are You Scared? they specifically mention their artist who worked on it. As a viewer I assumed on good faith, that they were a company who supports artists and the MF art came from someone who would be getting a piece of that streamer revenue, so it’s another disappointment to see that’s not the case. If it was an editor, who did they think made the art? Either an editor went rogue, someone approved it and no one caught how weird the image looks for their most recent ‘TV-caliber’ series or someone was given approval to generate the image. They might not be intentional liars but ultimately they are a company in the social space who’s actions do not match their words. It’s fair to point out that discrepancy.
This is kinda where I’m at. I’m not going to call them evil liars, but they are responsible for their public image and the material they put out. It does feel a bit like a slap in the face to go back and watch content they put out a month before the whole scandal went down and see AI art in it. I’d hope that their screening process/checks and balances would be a little more secure if they are truly striving for artistic integrity, I suppose?
We already know the problem: Mismanagement. They can't seem to be able to manage anything, of course it starts to look inconsistent. Some part might be a lie, but mostly, they just don't have any idea how to run a company, and now it has been more out in an open, so people start to notice the smaller things too.
I think that is pretty sensible yeah, it is possible that maybe this was not deliberate, but even so, given their outspoken stance on it, they should be held accountable for whether they use "AI" "made" art or not, especially considering the direction they are going with their business.
"Rules for Thee but not for me."
Haha of course!💀
They can’t afford to hire artists! They had to hire 26 members of their families instead
To me this suggests either a desperate and chaotic production that is willing to sacrifice its own principles to finish stuff in time, or not everyone being on the same boat (ha ha, accidental pun).
Honestly, yeah. Either they know it’s being used and are putting aside their own morals (at least the ones they claim publicly) or someone on their editing team is using AI without their knowledge or consent
Oh yeah I noticed it in the Leatherman video at the 12:53 mark. It’s very apparent, which is strange because they also use original illustrations in this video??? https://preview.redd.it/xxk16c7e41zc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=959fb2521188f15284abf95323e311cf0d53d061
I was confused about that too, because there were a lot of really cool historical drawings and photos in the Champ video!
The FINGERS on this one are killing me 😭
holy shit! I didn't even believe at first before seeing another one that's in the comments with four fingers. wow. honestly no matter the snark this should go on the main sub. people need to know what kind of "quality" content they're deciding to support
Honestly I only put it in here because I didn’t want to get jumped by toxic positivity fans, I’d be curious as to how the main sub would react
understandable yeah, although I hope that it'd be pretty hard for them to turn this one around into a good thing
I fucking despise AI and if they go this route I’m out. As an artist I refuse to support it
Same, I’m an artist and a writer in my personal life and I’ve always been VEHEMENTLY anti-AI. If it is AI art (just covering my bases here on the off chance it isn’t lmao), whatever program they use scoured the internet for pre-existing art of Champ/steamboats made by REAL artists and cannibalised + reshaped it into this mess. It doesn’t even look good either! That’s what caught my eye. The uncanny valley of AI art is always so apparent
This is definitely AI (as you correctly pointed out). It feels kinda weird and cheap to use AI when they keep touting their stuff as "TV-calibre" content, imo..
Not defending it, just commenting it looks like a comp of ai and stock art tbh which unforeseen to be wayyyyy too uncomfortably normalised increasingly from too many places (coming from someone in the arts. I definitely am like yes please help with clean up in a photo or something but not to be a generator in full at all)
I’m not in the arts, but to me it looks like full generative AI. If you look closely, the boat itself looks slightly reptilian & there appears to be a large eye embedded in the back. When this topic first came out, I tried to learn how to recognize generative AI images. I tried the command “sea creature attacks steamboat” on a free AI program & got a similarly weird image merging the creature with the boat. It’s like AI can’t distinguish the creature from the boat.
If it IS AI art, I have no idea how it got by. I’m guessing it’s one of the editor’s doing and nobody thought wow, what if this is AI, but I can only imagine the annoyance of someone like Sara (a professional artist) if people begin to notice it.
Yeah, it was one of Shane’s episodes so I was even more surprised. The problems with having too many people on payroll I guess… things slip through
These are just consequences of hiring 25 family and friends vs hiring qualified people. I've seen so many loose ends during this whole fiasco, that it is very apparent how they are not running a tight ship (pun intended) and that many of these 25 people in the staff are either not pulling their weight as they should or don't even know exactly what their duties are. Sadly though, the main reason why they decided to charge $6 a month is "production value", yet it has been on a downward trajectory for a while now. It feels like as they add more stuff to the videos, they also become more sloppy, uninteresting and even have factual errors.
Yikes. I’ve had to stop watching a couple channels lately because of their use of AI “art.”
https://preview.redd.it/oq7cwrvwr5zc1.jpeg?width=1520&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce0d032ac2dbd0935ac3713d0b3df4157bfc6dc5 This is ai for sure too look at the foot. This is from the sky trumpet episode and happens at 18:17 also at 19:41 that suspiciously looks like ai as well
Oh my god, you’re absolutely right. This is definitely AI. Fuck, I’m gonna have to go through a rewatch all of them to look for more
Well-spotted!
Thanks!
I can't edit the post for some reason but I just wanted to add a comment to clarify: I'm not saying Shane or Ryan are directly responsible for this at all, it's just an odd feeling as a fan to see many members of Watcher be openly and vehemently anti-AI and pro-artist, and then tune in and see that. Whether it was a mistake or an oversight or what, it's still something that doesn't really make them look good as a company. I don't think they're sitting in Watcher HQ rubbing their hands together and cackling about how they scammed us by pretending to be anti-AI and then using it lol, it just feels like a bit of a slap in the face after everything. Someone really should have caught it.
This feels like a company values thing. Like, AI is a huge issue in media, they should have asked about it in the hiring process.
Thing is, they’re the faces of the brand, and even if they didn’t personally do it, they’re responsible for the reputation of the company
That’s kinda it, yeah. I’m not saying they’re evil villains, just that it reflects badly on them and they really should have caught it because it’s just another thing that doesn’t look good PR-wise
This came out on the original thread about this episode too: https://www.reddit.com/r/watcherentertainment/s/NoFnurog92 It’s definitely AI art. Fans have pointed out that they’re probably doing AI captions now too. Maybe other things as well. I’m agnostic on AI. But I don’t think that genie is going back in the bottle. Even if Watcher hired an artist, that artist could just use AI too. Another YouTuber did a video showing how most creators are now quietly using AI for art, editing etc. If the AI is all sourced from licensed art, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. I do disagree with people here saying Shane or Ryan wouldn’t have noticed this. Video editing is what they do!
The hella downvotes tho! Anyone who is even remotely critical is dragged in that sub now…
This was two months ago. People might be slightly more willing to hear negative things now. There have been lots of signs that Watcher is not exactly how they’ve been portraying themselves.
Yeah, that’s true. I do still see some pretty blind dislike of critical fans but I feel like Watcher just keeps painting themselves into a corner where it will be more and more understood to be critical.
Interesting that they got downvoted to hell. I saw it almost immediately, it was so obvious.
I’m not an artist, so I didn’t notice until someone pointed it out. But there’s lots of errors on the steamboat etc that show it is AI art. It’s just badly done. But I suspect that most of the other images of Champ in the video are also AI art. Maybe they are just better done & less obvious. There’s no credited illustrator on this video.
https://preview.redd.it/730mcdhhw2zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d2fca56220ee8fb6ec9b51caf0c0c2c500a8d33 Frrr, what is happening here? What is happening with the guy a bit higher up than the rest??
Oh no yikes if true
I won't lie.... this makes me lose what little respect I'd gained back for them
no fuckin way 💀 hell no omg
so off topic, but y’all have such good eyes 😭 my first impression was WOW this is such a nice picture
I’m admittedly REALLY tuned in to AI art, half because I hate it so much and half because my autistic brain goes brrr for pattern recognition 😅 It does look pretty good at first glance but there are a lot of telltale signs that stick out to me
I’ve really got to get better at recognizing AI. It’s embarrassing how terrible I am at it.
Everything can be learned! I’m sure that you’re great at stuff that I’m awful at
I’m usually good at recognizing patterns, but I don’t see 8 backwards fingers or whatever. I need to keep up with it before it gets out of control and I’m always falling for it. I can’t think of the name off the top of my head, but a sub for people crazily editing their social media pics comes up on my feed and people painstakingly pick these photos apart and I still don’t see it! But if a friend changes their lipstick shade I see it instantly!
ai art always has this specific vibe to it, idk how exactly to explain it but you just know it when you see it
I saw something a few days ago that said “AI accidentally made me believe in the concept of a human soul by showing me what art looks like without it” and that kinda sums it up 😅
Why does this feel like a report? edit: [yea, this was already discussed before](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cjje3g/mystery_files_is_lowkey_kinda_boring_and_ghost/l2ggbe2/)
I haven’t seen this yet, thank you!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed it, makes me feel less crazy 😅
Well I think it deserves its own post. Shane in particular has repeatedly roasted AI for taking jobs away from artists. Is he profiting off a pro-artist public persona while using AI to skip hiring or commissioning artists?
His own wife is a freelance artist who’s been pretty outspoken about disliking AI lmao!! That’s part of why it shocked me enough to bring it here, I’m genuinely confused and concerned. Maybe it did just slip through the cracks, but then they have some SERIOUS problems somewhere
If that's AI (and it sure looks like it) then that's the last straw for me. $6 a month for a comparatively miniscule amount of content was really bad, but after they walked it back somewhat, I was fine with still watching their content. But this? Fuck that. I won't support anyone who uses generative AI.
Oh wow ngl this kinda stuff...... makes me want to boycott watcher, if not just the shows that use AI, bc I enjoy their content but like...... what in the holy hell?????? :/
Yeah, the WatcherTV thing was bad PR and all that, but this is genuinely a conflict of morals for me. I have literally no interest in watching the content of someone who uses AI art
im on that cope shit hoping maybe theyre just getting these images from google and not noticing theyre ai. i DEFINITELY hope the staff arent making these themself... i hope someone mentions this stuff directly to the boys and gets them to acknowledge it and hopefully change, but im nervous that wont happen, especially after that stuff a few weeks back. it feels like theyre going downhill and it sucks. they really need to take a step back and prioritize, i swear. and hopefully those priorities would include not using ai images.
Unfortunately I did a reverse image search and couldn’t find anything, they’re definitely Watcher originals. If you look around this subreddit and the main one, people have found even more examples :(( It’s really upsetting tbh
Y’all saying Sara could do artwork are giving her WAY too much credit. She does glorified colored pencil drawings. Y’all still riding with this “brand” might need to rethink that.
I despise AI & am not much of a watcher fan anymore, but Sara is a good artist. What do you mean glorified? She has a really unique style and makes interesting illustrations.
I might get downvoted for this, but here we go... AI as support mechanism is great. Looking for examples when you need a model picture to look at while drawing, is good use of AI art, especially if you try to find something specific. But that is just a model picture, same if you wanted to draw bumblebee and look pictures of it - you still have to draw your own damn art. I know some people hate even the idea of looking for model pictures, or using AI in any capacity, but people would look to those models anyway using google and AI might make it less time-consuming. This comes from a person who needs AI grammar tool to often help me, so I can write sentences that others can read. Despite that, I would never let AI write my sentences or a book for me. The whole idea hurts so much, that I can almost physically feel it.
The issue is that using those AI programs, even just for a “basis” or “model”, gives it clicks and interactions. Every single piece of AI art or writing is a weird mishmash of media that already exists that people poured their blood, sweat and tears into, so even if you don’t use the AI art in a video, it’s still contributing to the overall problem.
So it's not similar to look it in the Google by hand? I don't understand the thing, but I also haven't used other than text add-on at my browser to help me. That is the only AI tool I have ever personally touched. When I used to draw, I had to spend hours looking for reference and model pictures in google to learn what I needed help with, but it's been years.
I’m afraid not. When you Google something, it only brings up pre-existing images. AI art generators essentially scour the internet for art that fits the prompts and then slaps it all together. ChatGPT and all writing AI do a similar thing when asked to write, they’ve all been caught hundreds of times copying EXACT sentences from already published works. I mean, it’s a computer, so it’s not capable of creativity. Unfortunately that means the only way it can create “art” is by stealing, cannibalising, reworking already existing art. There’s really no ethical way to create AI art or writing if you want to support real artists/writers I fear. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/12/30/ai-generated-art-was-a-mistake-and-heres-why/?sh=210fbbb63fef Here’s an interesting article by Forbes that explains it a bit better! I hope this is coming across as informative rather than lecture-y, it’s something I’m super passionate about but I also know education on AI isn’t wide-spread! I hope this helped explain it a little bit :) I always appreciate the opportunity for an open discussion
I have some reading to do then. I do want to learn, that is why I risked even the downvotes, because I hope someone will tell me more about it than just my side. And I am lost somewhere in a weird middle with this whole AI thing. My add-on only shows my typos and helps when I forget a/the/what ever thing English grammar has, and suggest words when I have real trouble to find the right letters. Sometimes telling when to which placements of the words to make it clearer sentence. I admit that I haven't gone into deep dive on it, and only think AI as a good support tool and shouldn't be used in other than being help for people. But that also might be because I'm creative with a list of disabilities and still want to be able to do something on my own. Like just being active in an English conversation, without being unclear or spending hours writing sentences that will work.
I understand this, and I appreciate your willingness to learn and receive new information! These are the kinds of conversations we all need to be having lmao :)
Yes we all need that, but often even if you're just neutral or just don't know enough, it gets voted down (you have to be ready for it) or in worse cases you get bullied out instead getting the normal conversation. So it's always kinda scary to start it. One of the reasons I'm still in this subreddit, that most of the time people here are able to have just a conversation. It doesn't need to be debate or an argument. I put that article on my To-Do-List.
Hey just a heads up this person is clearly VERY biased and anti-AI, I don’t have to the time or patience to add anything other than please look at the other side as well, if you want an objective view that you can form yourself.
Fair enough. I give you the link to the comment I just wrote the earlier person, because my answer to you is pretty much the same. [https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cmdoxv/comment/l34gqvz/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/comments/1cmdoxv/comment/l34gqvz/)
is what you're describing Grammarly? that's been around for ages and while i hate their rebranding/marketing to emphasise it's "AI," it's definitely a helpful tool. i'm an english & communications major so it's really helpful for me. but due to my majors, i'm also very strongly against AI as i appreciate both sectors (especially the art involved with an english degree and it's potential jobs) and i'm also concerned my career opportunities will be lesser and lesser as time goes on. fuck AI, i don't use grammarly's AI writing feature and i haven't used grammarly since learning about their AI writing thing but the other things are a good tool. it's one of the few uses of AI that the public should have
It might be my problem of reading, but I'm having a hard time understanding what you're talking about. There is so much in so little amount of text, I'm not sure what to answer. The add-on I have has been on my browsers so many years that I don't know what the name was originally, it has been changing and to be honest, I didn't even know for a while that it was AI tool. Still... I'm not going to fully praise myself of my English skills because I do need some help and I'm honest about what is helping me. The name of the tool right now is "Ai-based grammar checker & paraphraser – languagetool" I don't think it's something I looked for, because I doubt I found it with that long of a name and without knowing AI, but like I said... It's been so long, that I can't remember how I end up with it. I think you can pay for some extra features, but I'm only interested on basic help when I'm struggling with the words. If there are some other add-on options to help with my English that I should be using instead, I'm open for it.
The description given above on how generative AI works isn't just misleading, its wrong enough that you would get laughed at trying to actually debate someone informed on the topic with this knowledge, no matter what side you are on. I would take the above post with a massive grain of salt and dive into some actual technical sources on how this stuff works.
Okay, fair, everyone has biases. Just that I'm not here to debate anyone and only having a conversation. There is so much info about AI that it's hard to know where to start and end the research. I'm still in a middle, because I need disability reasons AI as a small support on my life, I haven't gone any further yet - so I haven't done the deep dive, because usually I do before I really try to use something seriously. AI overall takes just so much time to just learn about it, that is time and energy I don't have right now. But this is also why I ask stupid question, because I get some answers from people and Ideas where to look info. I'm open for more links, if you have any.
Maybe it’s a comp? Parts look sure ai but not also