What the heck? I asked the AI for artwork with orks in an ork Trukk, and I get a WW II / modern look. Not cool. But I played around with my descriptions and the illustration I used to guide the AI, and I got the photo below. Better. But, as impressed as I am with AI, it’s not perfect.

The past month has seen a remarkable evolution in our work on the Corvus Cluster. We’ve started to rely on AI-generate artwork.

The ork truck at the top of the page definitely doesn’t fit the 40K vibe. I never could get an ork Trukk to look like a 40K Trukk, but by tweaking my description, I managed to get this. And it’ll work as a Looted Wagon.

What we’ve found is an astonishing resource—within two minutes, we can give an AI generator a description of what we want. Then, within seconds, the AI will generate one–or four or eight–pieces of artwork that will allow us to illustrate one of our articles and provide an image that helps “bring to life” the story we’re telling.

It’s amazing. But, fair warning, it’s also not perfect. As you’ll see in some of these examples, it’s sometimes had to get the AI to “see” what you’re really going after.

Also, there is something disturbing about turning over such a creative, artistic endeavor to a machine—and potentially deprive a human artist the opportunity to earn a living.

In any case, AI-generated art is very useful, so we want to share our experience with it.

Insanely easy

We’re using an online provider called NightCafe. It offers a variety of AI software programs, with a very easy “fill-in-the-blank” tool bar that allows you to set the parameters of the artwork you’re seeking.

We can literally produce a piece of art in under two minutes. You can ask for four or more variants; vertical, horizontal, or square layout; and you can  choose from a variety of art styles: comic, realistic, anime, cinematic, etc.

We didn’t bother with any of the tutorials. We just filled out the prompts in the tool bar and began to experiment.

If you fill out this page, the AI does the rest. But make sure your “text prompt” really describes what you’re seeking. You won’t always get what you hope, but you can import a photo or artwork to clue the AI as to the “look” you’re going for.

Cost is low

As this was an experiment, we went with a three-month subscription to start. I certainly will be upgrading this to an annual subscription soon.

The cost was a discounted, first-time subscriber at $4.79 a month. With that, you get 100 credits a month (150 for first month). I’ve not quite figured out how the pricing goes, but it seems to about 1 credit per artwork.

That’s more than enough for our use (we may use 10-20 credits a month). But, the website seeks to engage its subscribers with opportunities to “earn” more credits. For example, we received two notices today: by rating 25 art samples posted by subscribers, and “liking” another bunch of artwork, I earned 7 credits for about 5 minutes of voting.

Do you get what you want?

The AI did a perfect job of capturing what I was seeking in a planetary governor.

Mostly yes. But you also get a fair share of WTF?

The photo at the top of the article shows the limitations of AI (or my use of it). I tried to describe what I was seeking, and the AI did a pretty good job. But the Trukk was all wrong.

I tried importing a photo of a painted Trukk, but it still didn’t get it. I got something I can use, but let’s face it: not every piece of art is going to work out.

But take a look at the planetary governor to the right. Wowsie! She came out as perfect as I could have hoped.

Feeling a little guilt

For the past nine years, artists all around the world have helped the Corvus Cluster by allowing us to post their fan fart. It’s really helped us to “bring to life” our hobby adventures, and we worry that AI will cost professional artists needed income, and the art just won’t have the same originality or quality as the work of a living, breathing artist.

So, we feel a little guilty about supporting AI. It’s like buying a Model A Ford at the turn of the century. It’s hard to look the local blacksmith in the eye.

This old man was featured in a story about an apocalyptic world, and the AI nicely captured the tragedy of the man’s situation. A success story for this AI-generated art.

Obviously not enough to stop us from leaping into it, though. And there are some good reasons for using AI as  a supplemental source of art:

• We can’t pay artists anyway. We’re a small group of gamers without funding. We couldn’t afford a single commissioned work. That’s why we rely on fan art. All we can do is rely on the good will of fellow 40K lovers, give them credit for their work, and add a link so they get a little publicity and attention for their efforts.

So, we’re not directly impacting their income.

• There just isn’t enough high-quality fan art to meet our needs. We’re still finding new artists, but they aren’t always painting what we need. And it takes time to find them.

With AI, the quality can vary greatly, but if we’re ready to post an article about a battle where orks are storming a trench line, we can usually create something adequate-to-good that captures the “feel” of what we need. And some of the art is really, really good.

Yikes! We asked for a canine predator with spikes on its back and long tusks. Instead, we got a two-headed, skeletal monstrosity. OK, time to try again with a different description of what we are looking for.

• AI is here to stay. As long as you can accept that the quality will vary (and part of that is how well you explain what you want to the computer), AI can do the job.

As a social policy issue, we need to have a serious discussion about productivity versus lost jobs (particularly for creative work). It’s great to make things cheaper and faster, but AI could have severe repercussions for future wages, employment opportunities, and quality. People need good-paying jobs, and we’d prefer to see human beings able to make a living providing us with art.

But, our little web site isn’t going to change anything. So, with some intellectual reluctance, we’re going forward.

One of my first creations. I’d hoped to have orks storming a city wall, but I just wasn’t getting what I wanted. So, I simplified my description to a sci-fi setting, with orks running through the desert with guns and explosions. It came out just fine.

Is it right for you?

We think it’s worth consideration. I’m not promoting NightCafe specifically. Right now, I’m thrilled with the service. But I don’t know what’s out there. So do your research.

We can say this. AI-generated artwork, for us, as proven to an inexpensive, quick, and easy way to help illustrate the articles of our blog. And we can see using it for personal posters, illustrations for game charts at conventions, and as background screens for future photography.

If any of those sound useful, consider this new technological marvel. Until AI decides to take over the world, it’s pretty cool for the average hobbyist.—TheGM

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.