another concept artist here wanting to say that any designer worth their salt would agree when i say that 50% of creating GREAT designs is the quality of reference gathered and the personal visual library of the artist actually doing the work using ai generated images in your reference boards to "get an idea" actively hamstrings your ability to explore and iterate actual new, interesting designs because it creates a preconceived end goal in your head and allows no room for deviation and happy accidents to happen the greatest concept artists ive ever met are people who expose themselves to new things and are truly curious about the world. they spend DAYS collecting high quality, accurate reference and have images of everything you could ever think of under the sun in their personal libraries- fabrics and stitching from so many different cultures, cool rocks, weird plants, interesting architecture, landscapes, art from every time period etc. do not fall for the "generate ideas" excuse, you are hired as a concept artist first for your great ideas and design sense, not because you can paint the prettiest picture. the last thing many of us want- gamers and artists alike- is for the medium we all love so much to become only derivative slop with the same repackaged visuals and experiences.