ⓖⓜ 💮 🙅‍♂️ I don't usually share my thoughts on social media, but after my last post went viral with over 𝟭𝟯 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 views, I find it necessary to do so. 📣 First of all, let me clarify that I have no interest in wasting time with users who disrespect me without having the slightest idea of who I am or what I do. However, I understand that the reason this happens is the fear caused by the incredible quality that AI Art is achieving these days. 👹 This is not the first nor the last time this kind of public lynching will happen to an AI artist, but I would like to put some thoughts on the table regarding this matter. If they are useful to someone, fantastic; if not, I will continue my path calmly without deviating an inch from the focus of my artistic goals. Let’s start! 🔻 📸 In 1827, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce managed to create the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵. This marked the beginning of years of concerns & protests from many painters who made a living painting portraits of people of that era. Suddenly, many of them saw their profession seriously threatened, as photography was much cheaper & faster than painting & was also very fashionable. 🎨 What seemed like a curse for painters, today we can say with certainty, was the best thing that happened to painting, as it freed painters from the responsibility of realistically representing reality, since photography took care of that. Thanks to the invention of photography, pictorial movements such as impressionism, cubism, & surrealism were born, where artists, free from painting reality, painted what they would like to see, what they imagined, or even what they dreamed. It should also be noted that those painters who wanted to continue representing reality were able to use photography as a tool to keep doing so, taking the photograph as a reference. 🏭🔥 Continuing with historical parallels of the current moment, I’d like to mention the 𝗟𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀, a movement led by English artisans in the 19th century who protested between 1811 & 1816 against the new machines that destroyed their craft. Industrial looms & spinning machines introduced during the Industrial Revolution threatened to replace artisans with less skilled workers who earned lower wages, leaving them without jobs. 🔛 Today, the term Luddite has developed a second meaning. A 𝗟𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲 describes those who oppose or are slow to adopt or incorporate into their lifestyle industrialization, automation, computerization, or new tech in general. ✏️ Leaving aside these theoretical considerations, I’d like to make it very clear that I am passionate about drawing, & it is a discipline I have been practicing for over 15 years, being my main profession. So, to all of you on X handing out pencils with the classic "𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹," I appreciate the advice, but I will also tell you that I have never stopped picking it up. However, I do so when I feel like it and not when any random stranger orders me to. 🤖 I’m currently focused on creating AI collections because I find it an incredible technology that I tried for my art as early as in 2015 & have been heavily practicing for several years now. To all of you who criticize it without bothering to really understand how the algorithms behind it work, I tell you that 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆, & it is each person's responsibility & decision how to live with it: with hate, fear, curiosity, or excitement. 🐈‍⬛❤️‍🔥 Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to reinterpret the 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝘁 & shared in the comments & RTs. It has been a pleasant surprise to see so many quality works with different styles & approaches. In the end, I am left with the idea that an AI work has triggered a truly vibrant illustration movement. This makes me think that 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲 no matter how much AI advances, just as painting did not die when photography was born.