How do readers feel about AI art between the pages of a story?

[lambenttyto]

I never use AI to write prose, but I do use it to make covers and art. I want to start putting more art between the pages of the story to provide a visual element for the readers, but of course, I use AI. Are readers averse to AI art, or will they welcome it?

Let me know.

 

[Sylver]

It's like Vanilla Ice Cream. Some people like it, others find it bland. Few actually dislike it.

I'm open to AI art and considered using it for my work outside of a cover art. But real made art has a certain charm to it, especially if the artist is allowed to improvise. It gives it meaning and heart. The flaws or surplus details/exaggerations give it more meaning and builds character.

The same can't be said for AI, since any flaws or exaggeration there can be explained as a glitch or error.

 

[lambenttyto]

It's like Vanilla Ice Cream. Some people like it, others find it bland. Few actually dislike it.

I'm open to AI art and considered using it for my work outside of a cover art. But real made art has a certain charm to it, especially if the artist is allowed to improvise. It gives it meaning and heart. The flaws or surplus details/exaggerations give it more meaning and builds character.

The same can't be said for AI, since any flaws or exaggeration there can be explained as a glitch or error.

I'm writing a slice of life series. I want to include a lot of art for every chapter, including some vignettes. It needs to be a selling point. Obviously not the selling point, but something that adds to the draw to come back for more. The prose is the most important thing, clearly.

 

[seenbystarlight]

IMO ai images are at best neutral. They don't add anything, and often distract from the story. They are often uncanny and off-putting and don't really improve the experience. I'm not a child. I don't really want to read a picture book

 

[lambenttyto]

IMO ai images are at best neutral. They don't add anything, and often distract from the story. They are often uncanny and off-putting and don't really improve the experience. I'm not a child. I don't really want to read a picture book

I'm speaking more along the lines of Japanese light novel style.

 

[Story_Marc]

I never use AI to write prose, but I do use it to make covers and art. I want to start putting more art between the pages of the story to provide a visual element for the readers, but of course, I use AI. Are readers averse to AI art, or will they welcome it?

Let me know.

Eh, right now, plenty of people are in something of a nocebo phase of these trends (which, historically, has occurred every single time with tech and failed every single time due to incentives), so I recommend thinking long-term and considering what matters most to you here, since otherwise you're just looking for permission for what you already want to do.

 

[Tetrahedron]

IMO ai images are at best neutral. They don't add anything, and often distract from the story. They are often uncanny and off-putting and don't really improve the experience. I'm not a child. I don't really want to read a picture book

only happened at AI-generated images at best/worst. A truly hand drawn illustrations, especially in a published LN added a bit more scenery of how a certain event is happening

 

[MasterY001]

Long time no see~

When it comes to AI-generated covers, I have no opinion. But personally, I don't like when authors add AI images into chapters. I find it distracting from the story and sometimes lazy since it's a habit I associate with AI-generated stories or MTLs. Anyway, your writing style is descriptive enough without them, so it'd just be unnecessary.

 

[TheEvilDuckLord]

I find that the charm in illustrations is that its real art made by a human. While someone might prompt a drawing, being able to see the intentions behind it adds a lot. The human labor behind also makes it more interesting. Like an AI cover for the book, yeah sure, you have to have something, but illustrations like a LN, feels weird. They're a negative for me

 

[Bimbanana]

Eh, its love and hate responses.
I've got hundred AI pics for each chapters on my first book, although later on i stopped making it because i dont have time anymore
So, yeah some peeps gave 5 star for the dedications
Some gave 2.5 stars because its ai (although later on he deleted it dunno why), some gave 4.5 star instead of 5 because the ai pics (yes, he mention it on review)

But at one point, i make a polls about it, and 64% of my readers ask me to continue making it (on RR, not here because copy-paste the images to other mirror sites is too hassling)

That's the experience in my first book.

On my second book, i decide to gave historical pics and history fact for bonus content, since the theme is heavily about history.
Peeps still loving it.

Basically, peeps love free stuff.

 

[Worthy39]

Depends on what the image is for. If it's a basic image of a character, just to give us a clearer idea of what they look like, I guess it's fine, might help people who struggle with visualizing characters. But if you're using them for scenes or even like a comic or Manga panel... that's a no for me. At that point, it almost feels like you don't believe in your own writing if you feel AI images can better convey a scene than your own words. Covers, whatever, we can't all afford it. But art between chapters being AI is off putting to me. A cover is how you draw people in to read, but the images between chapters don't serve to draw attention to your writing, it just recreates a scene you already described. And while I obviously don't speak for everyone, I have definitely seen some polls on other writing forums that had lots of people who thought the idea of AI art in chapters added nothing to the experience, and depending on where the art was placed, actually just made them drop it altogether. So while I'm not personally a fan, I think you'll be fine as long as you place the images at the end of the chapter, not in the middle.

 

[DarkCrinkle]

Honestly, you can make a poll about it for your readers ~ If they want it, then do it. Let your audience decide~ As for me, I don't reaaally like seeing AI images, I would rather draw myself, but yeah, putting pictures in every demn chapter can be tedious sometimes. Don't push yourself to do it all the time~

 

[LiteraryWho]

Eehhhh, I don't even think the illustrations in a LN add much to them, and having seen a few AI pictures on various WN I can't say they inclined me to change my mind.

Like, if what it looks like matters, just describe it. The point of illustrations in a story is, imo, more for the sake of the art itself, but if it's just gen-slop, what's it supposed to be doing for anyone?

 

[Bimbanana]

Honestly, you can make a poll about it for your readers ~ If they want it, then do it. Let your audience decide~ As for me, I don't reaaally like seeing AI images, I would rather draw myself, but yeah, putting pictures in every demn chapter can be tedious sometimes. Don't push yourself to do it all the time~

Uh huh, better just poll your readers how they feel about it.
Most of us here not reading your stories anyway, i think

 

[MFontana]

I never use AI to write prose, but I do use it to make covers and art. I want to start putting more art between the pages of the story to provide a visual element for the readers, but of course, I use AI. Are readers averse to AI art, or will they welcome it?

Let me know.

Personally, I'm against any pictures being included in the story. Ai or otherwise. I find that they often detract from the narrative's depth, weight, and impact, and if anything are little more than a shortcut to hide a lack of talent or skill in the craft, and most often end up creating a sharp break in the actual narrative momentum.

A narrative should stand on its own merits first and foremost, and the "pictures" it creates should be painted within the reader's mind by the author's use of craft and literary grace; conveyed to the reader through control over pacing, tone, language, description, characterization, and experiential detail.

In short, as an author your literary skills and descriptions should be the figurative brushstrokes you use to paint the picture for your reader to visualize in their mind, and that should be enough to stand on its own merits.

But hey, you do you. If you think I'm wrong, then by all means prove it within your own work. Just don't let yourself settle for mediocrity. Always push yourself to improve your craft, and I'm confident you'll succeed as well. Pictures or no pictures.

 

[strayCat0]

I have some distaste to it the same way I feel toward corporate arts. It's there to be just there to put it mildly, and it doesn't really make me enjoy the story more. If it's to give visual illustration to certain scenes, then I might understand it (the more 'background' it is, the more neutral it's to me), even if, like I said before, meaningless. Though sometimes it cheapens. But I don't get character illustrations. Like, "oh, this is just what I'm looking for. I couldn't have visualize X character if you didn't share us this AI generated Kimi no Nawa-Ghibli picture of them." Yeah, no.

To be honest, in general, I would say it's more detrimental than not. There are already sizeable readers who dislike any illustrations even if they're drawn by real humans. No exceptions. I imagine the rise of AI illustrations in stories is like changing the tradition of putting papers in the sink into putting papers in the sewer to them.

 

[Makimaam]

You’re asking readers on a writers’ forum, then expecting some writers to give completely out-of-touch replies.

Do readers love it? Most are impartial. Some specifically praised it. Some perhaps dislike it, but not dramatically, or strongly enough to call it out. Including or excluding art doesn’t really have much impact. Or material impact. In the end, it’s the novel that matters, and I’m judging this based on top trending/RS novels.

Treat adding art the same way you edit your prose: with intention. Ask yourself whether it works in that scene, or whether it becomes detrimental, even immersion breaking, when inserted between paragraphs.

 

[Arkus86]

Speaking for myself, sparsely used art matching the scene can work well, though I'm not particularly inclined towards it. But frequently used AI art is more likely to be distracting and off-putting for me.

That said, I don't think I'm reading any of your stories, and there are many different kinds of readers, so you would be better off figuring out what your readers like.

 

[Eldoria]

If you ask here, you'll only get biased answers from the author's perspective, rather than from the causal reader (who generally dominates the readership). Personally, I'm not against it. I used to enjoy creating AI illustrations like LN (of course, with detailed prompts that closely represent the scene). But nowadays, I don't do that anymore because I'm drained of energy from writing fiction. I focus more on the narrative layer. In short, do it if you enjoy it.

 

[Ararara]

I find it annoying when its in every chapter and looks bad. And sometimes the illustration contradicts how I imagined a character in my head, which is even more bothersome