Market organizers ran my art through AI
Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster.
I don’t want to give too much information in case the organizers see this, I’m already worried they are going to fuck me over somehow.
I’ve been crafty for a long time (knit, crochet, sew, cross stitch, embroider, etc) and always wanted sell stuff I made in my pastime. In April I decided to open an Etsy shop, focused on amigurumi. I haven’t really sold a lot, one bigger plushie and a few smaller ones, but I’ve enjoyed it. I wanted to expand to markets, which other than one annual one and christmas bazaars, aren’t super common.
But I found one. A really cool alternative market that sounded like it would work really well with the type of stuff I make, I prefer to make creepy horror and nerdy items. And to top it off, all of their flyers, logos, banners, were all AI free. A rarity around where I’m from. I applied and almost immediately got accepted, and paid the fees for the table space.
They wanted to do a vendor spotlight for promotion of the market and requested some photos. I sent a few of my favorites and a few days later they posted a spotlight of my work. Except it wasn’t my work. The stitches on the plushies were completely different, the colors were off, details like the whites around the eyes were gone, and some parts were completely different shapes. And to top it off, my hand that held all of them looked inhuman. It was weirdly tan, almost orange, and did not bend like a human hand should.
I had multiple people come to me and say that the pictures looked completely wrong, I mean it was obvious.
So I messaged the vendor and they denied it. They said they never use AI, only canva templates, and only do color changes on photos to fit the scheme of the flyers. I did get them to take it down though.
It bothers me so much because the last thing I want is people seeing these photos thinking either : 1. I use AI to enhance my photos and I support the use of it or 2. the products look exactly like this, then get disappointed when they come to my table. I mean either way, it’s a lose-lose situation for me.
And to make matters worse, in my opinion. My photos were the only ones that were fed through AI. All the other vendor photos looked identical to the ones the vendors had previously posted on their pages. Why? I mean if they didn’t like my products they shouldn’t have accepted me into the market. Don’t take my money then act like I’m not good enough.
Anyways, just wanted to rant. I’m still doing the market as of now, the vendor fee was completely non-refundable. But I’m not to excited for it.