This channel & AI (a little chit chat, and my plan going forth)

 

I did talk about this in another entry on this blog, - but since the entry isn't named anything in regards to AI, it might have slipped past people.

I also mention it in my about tab on this blog, - but in case you did not read that. I felt like I was going to address the elephant in the room. 

It is no secret where I stand on this topic, and I firmly believe that moderate use of AI can support creators in their process, whatever media they like to create for. Like me, I do this silly youtube stuff, but I also write and self publish my books (and if you want to know why I do not want a publisher, - that is a very long story for another day. But sure if you really want to know, hit me up and I will direct you to some blog entries in my personal blog that covers the why).

Anyway, - while I am also not seeking compromise, because I don't think there is one to be had. I don't support harassment of creators that use AI, and I also don't support channels that rely on AI. 

I do the occasional TTS video where I talk about a topic, bitch, or break down a game. And sure the background graphic is AI, and I am using microsoft text to speech to read my text out loud in the video.

I  have this singular V-log left from back when I thought that was what I'd use this channel for. And I hate everything about it, - I only kept it up because those shorts I recommend are pretty good. And I am showing you this, to make it very clear that I do not have ANY aspiration, or intention to get myself a microphone so you can hear my voice on my game recordings. It's that simple really, - I hate hearing my voice, and so do everyone else.

Another reason for no microphone, and that I quit doing Vlogs in person - was also because I have 4 kids, and by then they were all small, and i'd constantly be interrupted.  I live in a small apartment, so it was next to impossible to find a time in the day where I was home and there wouldn't be cartoons running in the background. So yeah, - they are adult now, no cartoons in the background. It doesn't mean they don't interrupt me all the fucking time.

Anyway, -  I don't feel more creative because I speak into a microphone, than writing out a script for a text to speech bot. But those videos are not available on surface youtube, and only available on a blog. I don't want to pesture people with them, but I do enjoy making them. So that is why I gave them a home of their own.

So in regards to AI, - I use it to create my intro and outro videos. I honestly see no difference between me making some silly manips with AI, - and using Canva assets. Actually I feel there is more 'me' in the AI edits than in any canva asset image or video. And I use AI when I make these silly blog graphics.

I also want to respect those who don't want to look at it or listen to it, - and that is why I have two channels. But I can promise you, everything you see on this channel, besides what I just mentioned, - you can be sure is NOT made with AI.

And that is really why I am making this entry, - to settle your mind, in case you wondered. I moved everything AI elsewhere, and left only a tab on this blog called AI content where there is a link.

But there was a reason I moved it off this site, mainly so you didn't have to wonder if it was AI or not, because as I said, - besides the actual banner graphics, and entry graphics, but nothing else on this blog is AI.

And should you happen to follow my other channel too, you'd know I would never in my life ask for money, or make commissions with AI. I make those resources for broke indie creators, - and if people can pay, they need to pay an actual artist or musician. At least that is my personal opinion, and that is why I'd never fucking advertise my AI stuff, or ask for money for it. 

If you are vehemently against any use of AI, this won't matter to you at all, and I suppose you would never in a million fucking years read this, or click my damn entry!-  So I have to assume that you're not!

Now this is not an entry about my personal approach to AI in general, it is about 'this' youtube channel.

First I think I need to explain some of my thumbnails, why they are made with AI, - I will go through some examples below, and what I am going to do about it, in order to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. 

Many itch.io games didn't, and still don't have a banner or game graphics that I can snag, - also many site banners on itch.io are moving gif files for whatever reason. And at the time I made the most egregious examples below; -  I didn't have the extension to my browser, which will let me download almost 'any' graphic, from 'any' website, - as a png file. 

So because I can now download the first 'still' of a moving gif, it allows me to make much nicer thumbnail graphics, where I can incorporate the actual graphic from the game banners. 

However , sometimes devs on Itch have additional images you can look at, and I often download those to make my thumbnail graphic edits. (and that goes for steam too of course, I mean those stills the dev upload) - I really don't want to use other people's screenshots, unless it's the same as my own, only better and sharper for instance.

But sometimes there is nothing, and I could of course take an in game screenshot, but if it's a text game for instance, or very... Shall we call it 'unpretty', not as in the game is bad, but the graphics just won't work for a 'flashy' thumbnail, - this was, and to some extent, still is my solution. 

I mean to prompt an image  on whichever generative graphic model I feel would be best for the specific task,  - and create some images to edit into a thumbnail, - custom 'prompted' if you will, -  to represent the vibe, or actual 'headcanon' for the game. (and by that i mean, if it's a text game, I only have my own vision to fall back on, if there are no graphics at all for said game). 

But back when I made the absolute majority of terrible, and sadly often unrelated AI thumbnails; - You'd not really 'disclaim' these things, which is something I feel terrible about today. As I hope I explained above, I might be pro moderate AI, but I also firmly believe in disclosure and transparency. 

This was not something I thought about back then, as this was all in its infancy, and I gifted many of these custom made graphics to the devs, - never mentioning how they were made, - I didn't do this to be deceptive at all. It just never crossed my mind it could be important until much, much later.

For instance this image.

I was so fucking proud of this one back then, - it IS actually a graphic created with a mix of game graphics, game logo, and AI image I prompted. And I stitched it all together with edits and layers. Much like I will do to this day when I edit anything graphic related, AI or not. (because I do actually know how to edit graphics, and not everything I do has AI in it, - the custom AI graphics, or structure layers, just makes it much easier for me to make something just the way I want it, and won't have to settle for whatever I can find online.) 

Anyway; - I gave this to the devs, with and without the name of the game from their own banner by the way. And they loved it so much they showcased it on their twitter. 

Never once was 'how' I made it brought up, - they didn't ask, and I didn't say anything. Again, it was a different time on the internet, - and honestly by today's standards, this is obviously AI. And  the reason I feel kinda shitty about it, - well not just this graphic, but basically by far the majority of  AI based graphics I made for thumbnails. And honestly in particularly those I gifted to the devs over time back then.

Look, this was in AI's infancy, and we were all sorta taken back at what it could do. You were too, - don't lie, it doesn't suit you. I know, okay? we were all having fun with it back when it just hit the mainstream internet.

Now, - I don't feel bad for the reason you might think, -It's not because I feel like I deceived them, because I didn't. I would have told them if they asked, as I have never even considered lying about using any AI, - because there is no reason to fucking lie! - No, it's more because I never thought to outright mention it back then, and it seriously aged like milk.  So now I can't help but to worry if my thumbnails, or gifted graphics, they'd show on their twitter, or showcase on their game page, -  would turn some people away from the game, or make people believe the devs used AI. 

And honestly they could have used AI, what the fuck do I know! - All I am saying is that, I don't want it to be my fault if they end up getting those tedious 'slop' messages, And 'this' is the reason I came up with some sort of game plan.

Not to rid my channel of old AI thumbnails, and I also can't promise you i'd never make any new ones. Should I land in the same 'what the fuck am I gonna do about the thumbnail' issue. But to be absolutely transparent about it, - and to change it where it's "louder" than the fucking game.

I did at one point like a year ago or something, make new thumbnails for a whole bunch of my old videos, going through my catalogue and wanted to remove, and redo the worst offenders, - and that wasn't AI related per se, but also just upgrade shitty thumbnails from old videos.

And suddenly Youtube for some reason, just refused to let me upload new thumbnails to any videos, and I gave up on the whole thing. Of course 'some' videos were updated and got new thumbnails, others did not. (you can find a blog post about it here)

And I made this video addressing the issue, even if that was largely ignored and I never DID figure out why I suddenly couldn't update my thumbnails.

I just assumed it was a problem with youtube platform updates, so perhaps the videos I had issues with changing thumbnails for, were uploaded to an older version of the platform, - yeah, I don't know man. 

And for some weeks ago, I tried with another video, - one I was very annoyed wouldn't allow me to change it's thumbnail back then. And even if I longs since deleted the folder with those "new" thumbnails I made for what I had expected to be a large scale updating of thumbnails. I for some reason decided to try again with this specific video.

And I assume it was both because of the random fucking AI image of the cat that annoyed me, but also because it's one of my best performing videos.  Hey man, I actually 'do' have a handful of videos that get more than 50 views. Pretty fucking random videos if you ask me, - but who am I to look a gift-horse in the mouth?

So the first thumbnail was basically just a black and white pen drawing, and was the 'official' game logo, banner whatever you wanna call it. 

And the first time I went through some of the indie games I had played, which had boring or shitty banners.  I mean BEFORE the last attempt, - I updated this to some random AI image of a bengal looking kitten in a bunch of flowers. I thought that was much more attention grabbing, and also prettier than the original logo. 

So as I said, the bengal cat in the flowers, was point one a random image, - it was not created for that video at all, - the game was about cats, and the image was a cat.  - again as I explained above, it was different times. And I didn't think about anything besides it was more colorful and "interesting" than the logo thumbnail. And to be fair, it absolutely WAS more colorful.

But I hated it for a whole slew of reasons, one because it was a remnant of back when. Today I would definitely worry that people who either searched a walkthrough of that game, would think there was AI in the video, because of the thumbnail, - or just skip it because of the random ass AI thumbnail. I mean still it performs super well, both with the AI thumbnail, and without it, - but I can only speculate on the fact it might have done even better, had it never gotten that stupid cat thumbnail.

So because that random cat image was riding my ass, - every time I looked at the frontpage of my youtube channel, it's there front and center. So I made a new banner, - and I had actually made a placeholder video, with a link to the actual video. Hoping it would just open the old video from the new, - and then unlist the old. But before I did that, I tried just deleting the AI cat thumbnail, which was not something I could do last I tried. Read the entry or watch that video about the thumbnail problems I had if you don't know what I mean. 

Now it's a different video I am showcasing in the actual video I made about this problem, but it also happened to this one when I tried to update the thumbnail. But suddenly it fucking worked, - and I have no idea WHY I could change the thumbnail now, but not back then. 

I lost the two first thumbnails, but this one is the new one, - and that is basically just a promo image from the game, and I edited it, and added the name of the game and tagline.

I do hope I can go back and change some of the other old thumbnails, - but I won't promise anything because I am not sure if it was a pure fluke it would let me update this thumbnail or not. 

But I AM going to try, - however I am not going to remove any and all AI based thumbnail, so what I am going to do for the old videos, I will explain below.

And I could of course just do a google search and take someone else's screenshot or graphics, - but I don't want to do that for many reasons. Point one I think it's fucking uncool to do, - and point two, you can dislike my stance on AI generated thumbnails with more or less edits;  but it won't change a thing. 

I would still to this day, much rather prompt my own images to create a custom edited thumbnail, than just download some random persons screenshot and use. - Fight me! 

So below is an explanation on what videos I will be editing the description or thumbnail of, and why.

THE MINOR EDITED CUSTOM - AI THUMBNAIL

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I didn't really edit all that much, I basically just made it into a thumbnail. I did however prompt it FOR this video in particular, trying to somehow convey my own vibe from the game, or in this case both vibe and theme. 

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are unless I find them terrible, - I will however link to the game if it's still available, and also insert a disclaimer in the very top of the video description; - explaining this thumbnail is created with AI, what level of editing we are talking about, - in this case minor edits, - I remember I removed a really wonky cup in the corner by the fork.  And in the same disclaimer make it very clear the thumbnail is in no way actually affiliated with neither game or devs. Making sure people are aware that I created this from a vibe, and the thumbnail is not from the game or the devs.

THE CUSTOM EDITED AI BASED THUMBNAIL.

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I used several layers of different AI graphics, and other imposed vectors, and/or structure layers, and/or filters. The image is edited in a photo edit program and each layer is prompted for this thumbnail, - where in I try to convey the vibe I got from the game, - and in this case you are actually a teenager who goes into the backyard armed with a flashlight only, - so this is a scene reimagined.. Because these thumbnails are edited with many images, all made for this purpose, - they are much more custom created than the one above. (PS: looking at this image now, I have a sneaking suspicion the background is not AI but a screenshot, - but I'm not sure! I'd have to watch the video for that, because it's so old).

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are unless I find them terrible, - I will however link to the game if it's still available, and also insert a disclaimer in the very top of the video description; - explaining this thumbnail is created with AI, what level of editing we are talking about, - in this case minor edits, - I remember I removed a really wonky cup in the corner by the fork.  And in the same disclaimer make it very clear the thumbnail is in no way actually affiliated with neither game or devs. Making sure people are aware that I created this from a vibe, and the thumbnail is not from the game or the devs. 

NON DESCRIPT BACKGROUND

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I used several layers of different origin, - I don't recall if the trees in this thumbnail are AI, in game screenshot or a stock photo. And in this case I'm dead sure the black silhouette graphic, are indeed game graphics. And the entire thumbnail is edited with regular photo edit, plus a font added by me.

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are unless I find them terrible,  and I will not be making any disclaimer unless I am 100% sure, and remember, - a visible vector layer or edited background are actually AI. 

FREE CLIP-ART ASSETS ON AI BACKGROUND

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I used several FREE clip art assets, I rightfully don't know if any of them are AI, - and a background I know is AI.

These thumbnails will be edited, because I find them hideous, - seriously! What the fuck was I thinking? Did I just discover Canva or something? I will change the thumbnail to an ingame screenshot, - but if I edit with any type of AI based vector, I will list that in the video description if it's visible at all (and not just color correcting).

Also, I will of course only change or delete these thumbnails if Youtube lets me. 

UNRELATED RANDOM AI THUMBNAIL

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic,  which is completely fucking random, - it was not created for the video, and does not convey any vibe, tone or are even remotely related to what the game is about.

These thumbnails will be edited, because I find them hideous, - seriously! What the fuck was I thinking? To be fair, I remember the actual game banner, which was the first thumbnail I used for this video, and that was honestly worse than this. It was just as unrelated, just with more squiggly lines and hideous clashing colors. So I have no doubt as to WHY I wanted to change this thumbnail, - I just wonder why the fuck I decided to go with this random fucking terrible AI image.

I will change the thumbnail, just like I will for all those unrelated random fucking AI images I used for some of the videos, - I just don't know how yet. But if I use 'any' AI I will add a disclaimer as I talked about above.

Also, I will of course only change or delete these thumbnails if Youtube lets me. However videos with thumbnails like these, are first on my list to be edited if the YT gods lets me.

THE CHAOTIC AI & CLIP ART MIX 

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I used several layers of different AI graphics, but unlike the custom created thumbnails, - these are NOT custom, - nor are they really random as the unrelated thumbnails. These are a mix of different AI images, stock photos, vector layers and clip-art. Like in this case, the man and the background were not made for this video, and the bird is clip art from canva. But even if it's not custom made, it's still created in an editor program to convey some sort of vibe, - however in most cases; really badly. 

Thumbnails like this, will be edited as my second priority, after the random ones, - and I see them much like the clip-art heavy ones. Should my channel hide one that is actually passable, I will write a disclaimer like on the custom made AI thumbnails. I can't imagine there is a singular of these thumbnails that I actually like, so I expect to swap them all if Youtube will let me. But if not, I will as a minimum add the disclaimer, - because as you saw in the video about this issue I had, - it does save changes to the text in the description box.

OFFICIAL GAME BANNER ON ? BACKGROUND

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I bordered the official game banner graphics, atop a background with different vectors and imposed images, - in this case I honestly don't recall if any of it is AI, - I actually don't think so. But many of the thumbnails resembling this are. And these type thumbnails I have not touched the official banner graphics at all, and all my edits are either the background behind the official graphics, or added text.

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are unless I wish to present the game differently, I will only change it for those games I really love, - because I used to make thumbnails like this, so there are MANY of them. So I will not change them unless they are a direct eyesore, - or like in this case, with this banner. Is one of the coolest games ever! I really want to make a better banner for this game. 

And in this case,  I mean thumbnails like this; - I am not going to bother with a disclaimer, as it is not visible, and will not reflect badly on the game devs. Because that is really what this is about, - and a little bit my own aesthetics, but again, - I used to make banners like this, so you'll find HEAPS of them, and I really don't want to redo them all.

However if I leave it as is, - and the AI in the background is either an actual image, or something I know is AI I prompted, I will leave a short disclaimer. Same goes for, should I decide to incorporate any form of visible AI in the updated thumbnail, - not that I know why I'd do that, - but just in case. I would of course leave the same kind of disclaimer as on any other thumbnail I know have AI components.

REALLY LAME IN GAME SCREENSHOTS

This thumbnail is a mix of the official banner graphics, and an ingame screenshot, - I might change some of these, just because I think it's a shame they are represented oddly. This is a terrible example, as I actually think this thumbnail is fine, - and so this would NOT be something I would change. 

To change these thumbnails are very low on my list, and is more like a rainy day project, unless they are a direct eyesore, - like the orginal 'the static calls my name' was. In this case I will find some way to create another thumbnail with edited screenshots, stock images, of components of AI if necessary. And perhaps I just pretty them up a little with some color correction or a structure vector layer.

VIDEOS THAT ARE MORE THAN 10 YEARS OLD

Represented just to mention, I cannot be bothered.  Also this video is weird as all hell. 

SCREENSHOTS AND STOCK PHOTOS WITH FILTERS

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I used a stock photo as background, and used a cartoon filter on it, - and a color corrected and edited screenshot of the girl, plus text that I added to this image. 

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are. I will NOT be editing these thumbnails, and you could of course argue that filters are based on AI technology, - but so is your damn instagram feed. So I will not be writing disclaimers for graphics where I used filters of any kind from a photo edit program, - if there is no AI image involved.

FILTER EDITS OF SCREENSHOTS

This thumbnail is an example of a graphic where I singled out the object, in this case the dragon, and edited this with filters, only to then re-arrange it on the original background with some color edits, and vectors.

Thumbnails like this, will stay as they are. I will NOT be editing these thumbnails, and you could of course argue that filters are based on AI technology, - but so is your damn instagram feed. So I will not be writing disclaimers for graphics where I used filters of any kind from a photo edit program, - if there is no AI image involved.

NO THUMBNAILS

This video is an example of a video that is not over 10 years old, but has no thumbnail. This is because it's one of the videos I tried to update back when youtube just said 'no', and wouldn't let me update the thumbnails. This meant some videos were left without a thumbnail for some weird reason.

Thumbnails like this, will be on the top of my list! And I will attempt to fix them as the very first thing, - if youtube will let me, - if not. They just have to stay like this, because my only other option is to download the video, and reupload it with a thumbnail, - and I really don't want to do that, - unless it's like one video (like this one).

DOWNLOADABLE BASE BANNERS

I went through ALL the base banners a long time ago, and none of the banners you can find and download on this blog are made with AI!

BASE BANNERS WITH AI LAYERS OR COMPONENTS

All the base banners with ANY AI, - they are moved to a different place, and you can find them through the 'ai content' tab in case you should be searching for this specific resource.

Just thought I would remind you, that; -  I really should make a seperate blog entry about my opinion on what is slob and what is quality content, this is not the place.  However just wanted you to know, - I separated the two, - so this blog belonging to my Natskygge gaming youtube channel, has a minimum of AI, - and for the videos themselves, it's limited to my intro and outro videos, and perhaps the thumbnail, - which is why I made this damn entry! I mean to address the thumbnails.

I have no intention of not using filters, or vectors with AI components which are not visible, or using non descript stuff like rooms, trees and so forth as imposed vectors on thumbnails if that is what works. I will however from this day forth, write this as the very first in my description, along with a disclaimer so my choice of graphic tools does not negatively impact the devs. 

I updated the ai content page, to include a game rant which is not public on my channel because I use text to speech, - as I talked about in the very beginning of this entry. 

And I will also include another text to speech about what I consider AI slob, and what I consider creativity brought to life with a component/minor use of AI.

And lastly I will include a text to speech video about youtube banners, with resources for layers and tips and tricks on making a good banner.

ALL THESE VIDEOS ARE ON THE AI CONTENT PAGE FOR A REASON, DON'T DIG IT, DON'T GO THERE AND LOOK AT THE LINKS. =)  - that is exactly why I separated the two, and have two channels. I fully understand and respect that people don't want AI thumbnails on their feed, or want to listen to AI based music (even if edited), or text to speech videos. 

I noticed that I actually DID make entries about this, - and you can find them here: (ps both entries are located on this blog, I just didn't feel like repeating something I already said, - love it or hate it, - this is how I feel about this topic. - but also, - again... I completely understand that it might bother some people who follow my channel for other reasons,  - and that is why I took it away from the channel)

LET ME SHOW YOU SOME OTHER EXAMPLES OF THE DIFFERENT KIND OF THUMBNAILS I WILL AND WON'T BE EDITING, - IF I CAN.

THIS IS NOT AI, IT'S JUST A BAD THUMBNAIL, SO THIS WILL BE EDITED

THIS IS NOT AI EITHER, JUST FUCKING TERRIBLE THUMBNAIL, ALSO UP FOR EDIT

DON'T RECALL IF THE BACKGROUND IS AI, BUT IT'S UGLY AS FUCK - AND I HAVE MORE OF THIS SERIES COMING UP SOON... AND THAT IS AS GOOD AN EXCUSE FOR A THUMBNAIL REVAMP AS ANY! 

THIS LIKE PURRRGATORY, IS ONE OF THE THUMBNAILS I FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT, BECAUSE I REALLY DON'T WANT TO MISREPRESENT THIS GAME IN ANY WAY! 
SO THIS IS UP FOR AN UPDATE, AS ONE OF THE FIRST!

I REMEMBER THIS WAS A SHIT GAME, BUT THIS THUMBNAIL IS UNRELATED AI AND IT GOTTA GO, LIKE YESTERDAY.

THIS IS ACTUALLY THE THUMBNAIL, AND I HAVE NO CLUE WHY THE FUCK I SELECTED THE INGAME MENU AS A THUMBNAIL, - EVENTUALLY THIS WILL GET A GLOWUP

THIS IS OVER 10 YEARS OLD, AND WILL NOT GET AN UPDATE, ALSO IT'S FINE AS IS

THIS IS OVER 10 YEARS OLD, AND WILL NOT GET AN UPDATE, ALSO IT'S FINE AS IS

THIS IS OVER 10 YEARS OLD, AND WILL NOT GET AN UPDATE [THIS VIDEO IS WACK]

THIS IS THE GAME GRAPHICS, ONLY EDIT IS 'DEMO' TEXT, - NO UPDATE

THIS IS A SCREENSHOT COMBO WITH FILTERS, - NO UPDATE

THIS IS AN UNRELATED AI IMAGE, - AND I WILL BE CHANGING THIS ASAP

EDITS OF SCREENSHOT AND OFFICIAL GRAPHIC BANNER, - NO EDIT

EDITS OF INGAME GRAPHICS WITH FILTERS, - NO EDIT

EDITED BANNER GRAPHICS WITH VISIBLE AI VECTOR IMPOSED, (NEVER UPLOADED, BUT IF IT WAS, THIS WOULD GET AN AI-DISCLAIMER TEXT IN THE DESCRIPTION)

EDITS OF SCREENSHOT AND OFFICIAL GRAPHICS WITH FILTERS, - NO UPDATE

BACKGROUND IS MY VECTORS MADE FROM STOCK PHOTO, THE CORNER FLOWERS ARE STOCK PHOTO EDITS, TITLE AND MAIN GRAPHIC (THE GIRL) IS FROM OFFICIAL BANNER GRAPHICS - I'D NOT CHANGE OR EDIT THIS

I DON'T REMEMBER IF I EVER UPLOADED THIS, I THINK I DELETED THE FOOTAGE BECAUSE I MESSED SOMETHING UP, - STILL HAVE THE FILE TO PLAY ON MY COMPUTER.  AND I WOULD CHANGE THIS, EVEN IF IT'S SCREENSHOTS EDITED TOGETHER, WITH TEXT ADDED BY ME, - JUST BECAUSE I THINK IT'S HIDEOUS.

 

   I AM GOING TO MAKE A LIST OF THE BANNERS CHANGED, AND SHOW FROM WHAT TO WHAT, AND LINK IT UNDER BASE BANNERS AND OTHER STUFF (IMAGE FOR REFERENCE) ON THE MAIN PAGE, BUT I CAN'T PROMISE I WILL ANNOUNCE IT HERE ON THE BLOG BESIDES WHEN I ACTUALLY START THE PROCESS, - IF I ACTUALLY 'CAN' CHANGE THE DAMN THUMBNAILS NOW OF COURSE.