This comment from the author was an interesting perspective on how it'll impact the market for illustrators.
> "Those "clients" [who just need an image and don't care about the quality] you are talking about don't really exist. I know they do, but on a practical level they don't for us freelances. It's a long debate among graphic designers and illustrators.
> To explain it simply, there are two big categories of "clients" for graphic designers, illustrator, photographers etc... 1-Those who want good stuff and can pay,
> 2-Those who don't care/can't make the difference between good and bad, and/or who don't have money.
> The first category is the only "real" clients who exist, on a practical level. They are the only one I work with, like any illustrator.
> The others, AI or not, will NEVER pay for a "real" illustrator anyway. Never. That has nothing to do with AI. I know them, they contact me often. Then I tell them my rates, they try to negotiate, then they give up. I never ended up working with them.
> They either contact a very junior illustrator who have no idea what they are doing, or they buy cheap illustrations on Shutterstock. They don't have money to spend anyway. They will do the same horrible images with AI that they already do with shutterstock. If they "leave" the market, it will impact nobody."
> "Those "clients" [who just need an image and don't care about the quality] you are talking about don't really exist. I know they do, but on a practical level they don't for us freelances. It's a long debate among graphic designers and illustrators.
> To explain it simply, there are two big categories of "clients" for graphic designers, illustrator, photographers etc... 1-Those who want good stuff and can pay,
> 2-Those who don't care/can't make the difference between good and bad, and/or who don't have money.
> The first category is the only "real" clients who exist, on a practical level. They are the only one I work with, like any illustrator.
> The others, AI or not, will NEVER pay for a "real" illustrator anyway. Never. That has nothing to do with AI. I know them, they contact me often. Then I tell them my rates, they try to negotiate, then they give up. I never ended up working with them.
> They either contact a very junior illustrator who have no idea what they are doing, or they buy cheap illustrations on Shutterstock. They don't have money to spend anyway. They will do the same horrible images with AI that they already do with shutterstock. If they "leave" the market, it will impact nobody."