On Assuming Good Will

By justrob

I want to share a mistake I made in another AI art community. Someone used my open prompt without credit. I felt a flash of hurt—and instead of sitting with it, I reacted. I left a cold comment. They deleted their wonderful art. The world is a little poorer because of a "me" problem. Why call them out? Who does that serve? The better response was right in front of me: make something inspired by their work, credit them, and keep the creative cycle going. We're all human. Even with good intentions, we get hurt. We get irritated. We react before we think. I did. And I regret it. Here's what I think: we should be happy when our art becomes part of someone else's creative process. That's the whole point. And if I reach out now, it's not to demand credit—it's to ask them to tag me so I can enjoy the fabulous creations I helped inspire. Attribution matters—it's how we honor each other's contributions. But how we think about inspiration matters more. And in this community, I shall always try to assume good will.

Comments (27)

justrob

I think it was some of the fun we had with the redhead woman expriment that lead me to embracing the open prompt fully - to accept that being the spark for beauty was reward enough.

justrob

Usually i dont - but having open prompts, sometimes it irritates me when my prompt is used verbatum... Thats when I struggle to maintain grace.

justrob

I'm sort of mostly in the meh camp - but - i do feel we can help mentor others into better versions of a community member.

DavidP

I tip my hat, Rob. Such an honest reflection. You remind me of something profound I hold from Brene Brown: "If you have to make an assumption, make it a kind and generous assumption" On NC, I went from open when I knew know better, to closed (like a magician not revealing the secret of the trick), to open again. I have learned so much, from so many (yourself included). It gives me a good feeling when I'm inspired by another's image and prompt, to mention and link the image. People being people, I think all enjoy being recognised and appreciated. I don't really care if my prompts are copied without attribution. And when I come across it I find gentle words to encourage somebody to acknowledge their inspirations. Doesn't happen too often to me, I think my images receive the 100s of views that might make it more likely. Actually think I may have nudged more people to acknowledge you when I have some images that I am 99% sure were based on your work.

paulie

Style is an interesting thing. Sometimes we don't recognize our own. I have people tell me "oh, I just knew that was yours"... although sometimes it's less about style and more about content that is recognizable!

King

thanks, I definitely have a few such moments, too. The self reflections bring a better version of ourselves. Now your art style has an impact on many ppl, including users on BP platform, too.

EternaSky

after years of having my designs copied, digital products "stolen", nonstop filing of dmca takedowns... i've kinda given up pusuing and going the "meh" route...

justrob

funny. I don't think i have a style, actually. I just try to make images that match what i imagine.

cocoayoc

personally, i never care if someone uses my ideas/prompts

Sealine

Keeping your prompts closed doesn’t stop people from copying. Had someone post a nearly identical image to mine and keep the ai generated prompt open that described every little detail of my image. But it was actually my early days here that helped me accept people being inspired by my images.