u/redapplefalls_

Two things I keep reading on this sub and the Forum: 1) people want to know if a postcard is made with AI/want to get better at spotting AI and 2) they want to support real artists when they shop for cards.

As I was shopping for cards tonight, I came across two online postcard shops that almost completely sell only artist-made and original design postcards. But they both also carry a single "artist" making postcards that are obviously AI, and they're doing so at a premium, and they're not disclosing it. (And it's a different one for each shop, but both "artists" originate in The Netherlands).

The first shop highlights that the cards are made on "luxury cardboard with a textured print, Tintoretto Gresso 300g paper". I think they're doing this on purpose: we associate nice paper with handmade things and art cards, so if they print their AI images on nice paper and focus on telling us about it, we're more likely to assume or give the benefit of the doubt that these are artist made.

The other shop, for a different "artist", includes in every product description how "limited" stock for her cards are. Neither say anything about AI. The first shop is charging as much for one of these AI cards as they are for the Edition Tausendschön cards they also sell.

I wish both shops were just honest about the use of AI. Each shop primarily stocks real artists, except they both have this one undisclosed AI "artist" they carry. But shops won't make as many sales if they're honest, because then people will know and can opt out if they want. As long as they're undisclosed and focus on the "exclusivity" or the nice paper it's probably going to trick people. That's disappointing.

so I got really sick last week, like haven't been this sick in decades. Saltine cackers and Gatorade sick. normally I drink a strong cup of pourover coffee twice a day but the smell of coffee is making me nauseous and you're not supposed to drink it during this kind of illness.

so as I've been living off crackers and toast, I've successfully replaced my 2x daily coffee with Alani cotton candy. I split a can and drink half in the morning and half in the afternoon. I like Alani drinks but previously I would only have them during crunch times at work or when I'm doing a lot of yard work

despite normally being totally reliant on coffee to function, I have had zero caffeine headaches and no issues at all 🙏

There's someone in the Postcrossing Forum running several lotteries per week giving away AI cards but not disclosing that they're AI. They just title the lotteries things like "pretty postcards".

Personally I find the images boring at best and frighteningly ugly at worst. But it's not the design that bothers me. It's that I scrolled through the comments to see who was entering these lotteries and I noticed several people who explicitly say on their profile that they don't want AI cards. These are members I've interacted with before who I feel like would want to know these cards are AI. I don't think they would enter the lotteries even for a free, no conditions card (non chain lottery) if the giveaway mentioned AI.

At the end of the day worrying about someone's free Postcrossing lotteries is very very silly and I've no problem being the first to admit this. But on the other hand, a small part of me feels like exclusively putting up so many AI lotteries week after week is some kind of sneaky strategy towards getting more people to accept AI (normalizing it), and that doesn't sit right with me.