AI... good or bloody annoying?

 Of course the answer is probably both!

If you've been on any wargaming related FB pages recently you can't miss the flurry of posts showing AI generated animations of wargames figures.  These seem to be mostly done using an app called Nauk Nauk.  Some are really well done and it's fun to see your own figures marching or galloping across the battlefield, at least for the first couple of times.    After all that's how we imagine them in our heads (or is that just me?)

The posts tend to generate lots of heated debate with some people getting very angry about it in the way that only a FB poster can! The arguments tend to be...

1. This is taking away legitimate work that creative and artists could have done.  This is certainly true if people are using AI to generate brand new images but in the case of animated minis, the poster has already done all the creative bit themselves in painting and basing the figure.  It's unlikely they've snatched a crust out of the mouth of an aspiring animator.

and...

2. The FB pages are being swamped by a tidal wave of animations.  Not sure this is the case either...there are quite a few because it's a novelty but most posts aren't about AI.

I reckon this will die a death in a few weeks and we'll all move on to something else to post and moan about.

Interestingly the argument that doesn't often crop up is about the huge environmental impact of AI.  There's no doubt there's a real AI revolution going on and the impact on our work and home life is accelerating rapidly, but environmentally it's going to cost us.

There's also a question about the security of apps like Nauk Nauk and what data they're harvesting.

I suspect some of the angry posters are the same kind of people who objected to those new fangled printing presses snatching work away from calligraphers!

Anyway, despite all my concerns, I couldn't resist having a go (I know... what a hypocrite!)!! I used this photo of one of my friend Anthony's 54mm Vikings...

...and turned it into this...

It was interesting, and quite fun to see the outcome but I can't see me doing anymore.