they would always be here no matter how much we complain, yet we absolutely do have to speak about this. not only is the generated images comprising artistic integrity, stealing real artists' hard work off the works fed into the engine, but its also harmful to the environment!

(1) generative ai data centres use huge amounts of CLEAN DRINKING WATER to construct and maintain the electrical components!!! globally this may soon use six times more water than denmark!!!! and this is terrible if you take into account that a huge portion of the world's humans dont have access to clean water and sanitation

(2) they use diabolical amounts of energy like hello??? and you know where this energy comes from? fossil fuels. now this part isnt rocket science! we all know that burning fossil fuels releases a shit ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere! and you know what the buildup of greenhouse gases causes? enhanced greenhouse effect. and what does that lead to? heat being trapped in the earth's atmosphere - GLOBAL WARMING!!!!! as if global warming before generative ai wasnt bad enough already

some of those 'generative ai defenders' might argue: but how bad can this be? we'll be dead before the effects hit us— WRONG. its all happening at an alarming rate! these are all more than highly likely to occur within our lifetime, with the ever increasing usage of generative ai models in our lives. and i would love to get into a few examples of what global warming and water shortages can lead to:

(1) destroying animal habitats! this one might be more for animal lovers and people who understand how crucial they are to the cycles that uphold life on earth. a lot of already endangered species will slip into near extinction very very soon. and this Will affect humans no matter what. every lifeform on earth plays a part in the survival of others!!

(2) even if you dont care for the polar bears that much, the melting of glaciers and ice caps WILL 100% release many unknown pathogens from whatever pre-ice-age time period it was from! ice has a knack for preservation, you know. these diseases will no doubt creep their way into human systems and cause even more disease outbreaks. and developing treatment takes TIME. we might record more new diseases faster than developing treatment.

and even if, after all that, you still dont care for the poor animals and prioritise your own immediate convenience, you might find that generative ai is no longer just a tool for humans, its a whole ass wheelchair. like, its NOT helping our critical thinking skills, people! and our ability to learn new things by ourselves! some people treat chatgpt and gemini like their own search engines, like a simple google search wont give you what you need.

and circling back to the problem in our, and every community out there: ai "art". ah, ai "art". ive fought this guy for a long time. we go way back.

okay, but seriously, call generative ai 'making art accessible', but do we not realise that making art ourselves is as accessible as breathing? all it took, as a child, was a sturdy STICK and SOIL. SAND, even. and everyone reading this has a very nice device like a laptop or phone or tablet. draw on ms paint! draw on the notes app! draw in photo editing! drawing is forever accessible even without our devices. pen(cil) and paper? we all have that at home. AND learning how to draw can just start from copying pictures. its okay to copy as long as you dont claim it as entirely your idea. and practice, people! consistency is key. just try for 6 months. watch tutorials. no matter how hard it is, dont drop it. no matter how much you hate it, dont drop it. because all artists started somewhere.

"but ai art looks better than mine! whats the point in going through all this?" rule number one of art: it is HUMAN. does ai work look human? maybe. is ai human? no. can a machine ever comprehend the human drive and emotion behind all art we make? absolutely NOT. it can mimic it, but itll never be the same.

all art has emotion. the colours, the texture, the lines, the shapes. modern day artists strategically place them to put their point across, whether conscious or not. and it has always been like this.

even impressionism, 'painting scenes for what they were', no doubt had emotion in its colours. bright colours often gave off a refreshing feel, duller colours giving off a more reserved and quiet feel.

can an ai model achieve this? im sure you know the answer to this by now.

my final comment: art isnt about the final product, its about the process and the intent of the human behind it. anything non-human or at the very least non-lifeform cannot and will not ever take this away from us humans. with all this, would using an ai model to make a painting to sit there and look pretty feel so enticing still?

cough, i will put my research articles here, yeah!

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about

https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117

well at least these are what i can remember. other info here is basic common sense and the very important ramblings of an art student, yup ~