As a disclaimer I am not good at understanding the tone of someone’s writing and I don’t understand mine either. very unfortunate lack of skill of mine I am sorry if this comes off as rude or impolite, in no way that is my implication. I also am 99% sure some of you have already formed my thoughts into words, I’m just here to express my opinion.

As someone who loves creating things and strongly against AI, I’m opposed to the idea of creating multiple images in a row for the site, yes. I also believe almost all of us used AI many times throughout its rise. Whether if it was intentional or not. I don’t think we can fully avoid it, honestly. As Solomon Lear said, Adobe uses AI too, which I didn’t know of until I read that message. Many of us don’t know about these because we don’t look into it fully, it’s intentionally placed somewhere you won’t notice right away.

I understand Zach’s concerns and point of view. I know there are many people here who create art. Whether it’s music, drawings, illustrations, poems and all the other. I am one myself, and I’m also a heavy perfectionist in many things I do. I think we can all look into ourselves and have a moment at least once where we had an idea and couldn’t create it exactly how we imagined. I, personally, get very unmotivated and discouraged if that happens. (Which I know I have to work on) I think it’s understandable why he will not rely on you to create art for the websites. It has many flaws which I really don’t know the solution to even if some of you say it doesn’t matter to you. It is not guaranteed you will not change your mind. I think it’s understandable why he won’t use your artworks

About the legal rights. I do not think that any of us, including me, who use a certain person as their profile are entirely doing it legally. Yes, this is quite normalized but I’m certainly not sure whether this is fully legal, I do not think it is. I think the same about AI images. It is not yours, you did not create that.

I’ve read upon about the subject a bit because I had questions about it. I don’t think there’s a statement about AI images being used. I don’t think it’s stated as legal nor illegal. We know that the pottermore images are copyrighted. The AI would and will create an image based on the universe, how do we know it won’t be copyrighted? I don’t know how the images will look like but it most likely will resemble similar things as what we see in the universe. This is the problem with the photos and drawings as well I’m not saying it’s only about AI. Images would most likely be the most at risk at copyright. This is not an argument I’m trying to make nor it is a statement. I’m just curious if anyone has an idea? And also about all the things that are part of the universe we use. I admit I didn’t read all of your messages, mostly Zach’s and Lear’s so I don’t know if this question was answered before. I’m sorry if I’m repeating someone else. I’m not all that educated on the manner and I would like to understand it better.

I also did not really realize the site didn’t have images for a few days now. I guess it is not that important to me then. Since I noticed I really try to see the difference and how I’m feeling and sometimes I feel like just having it black is easier. I have very sensitive eyes and eyesight. Sometimes even a little brightness makes it hurt and gives me headaches so I think having it black just makes it calmer for me. In no way I am saying the images were distracting me or anything but switching from a darker image to a lighter one surprises me sometimes. It wasn’t anything that distracted me I actually think it was balanced quite well. I’ve seen many sites that had so much contrast I couldn’t handle it so I appreciate this site very much. I believe it will not stay black though if I’m right? As Zach said a toggle option is a really great idea with textured backgrounds.

I don’t think anyone should feel like their opinions are being pushed aside and it is not taken into consideration. If Zach wanted to replace the images with AI without reading your thoughts he would’ve done that so I do not understand that statement whatsoever. But I might just not understand what the statement means so feel free to correct me.

I also think that people wanting to create art for the site is beautiful but you also don’t know what Zach wants specifically and that really is something you need to consider. You can’t see into someone’s mind. If we were to get together and have multiple people drawing things it would also result in the site having multiple art style backgrounds which I think also needs to be considered.

Thank you Zach for all your hard work!

I believe I spoke too much omg, so sorry

While we all share our own personal views, I want to reiterate one thing.

Please be mindful of how you speak to one another, regardless to what your view is, I have not back read but wanted to add this here.

Zach is doing everything alone tirelessly which is another thing to note. With the suggestions I made, I will work on generating mock ups and share them here, but when we are all discussing, let’s be respectful to one another.

Zachary Winslow wrote: Yesterday, 17:21 I believe I have already addressed most of these points, and I don't want to give the impression that I'm repeating myself too much or refusing to engage in the discussion.

I've reread my previous messages, and I think they accurately reflect both my mindset and the questions I raised (many of which I think have received little response). I completely understand that people may disagree with me, or even strongly oppose it.

I will run a poll, but I want it to be anonymous, as I don't believe a public topic is representative, and only once there is something concrete and visible for people to express an opinion on.

Some of the messages have affected me a little, so I would appreciate it if you could understand my decision to take a bit of distance from this topic for now. I'm going to get some rest and distance and then finish my work.

(That doesn't mean you can't and shouln't continue to debate, I'll read everything of course!)

Thanks to you all,

Zachary

I am thankful of everything you do for this site, Zach, if I ever failed to mention this.

However, you did mention a poll is going to be ran, as stated above. That is different from a survey. Since you already mentioned a poll an absolute possibility, all of us are expecting this to be up anyway.

I don’t distinguish between “poll” and “survey”; I use the two interchangeably. English is not my first language, and I am sometimes not fluent enough to express clearly my thoughts. I was thinking to use the website’s voting tool to see what people think. We would have to find a way to prevent double votes.

Zachary Winslow wrote: Today, 16:35 I don’t distinguish between “poll” and “survey”; I use the two interchangeably. I was thinking to use the website’s voting tool to see what people think. We would have to find a way to prevent double votes.

English is not my first language, and I am sometimes not fluent enough to express clearly my thoughts.

Ah this is a problem considering our "next gen pcs/inpcs", staff accounts and also former-staff account, on top of current PC and iNPCs.

I don't know how you would ensure no one double votes even if you say "One account only". Can I suggest, and maybe its a silly thing, what if you used google forms for this. Don't collect email but you could ask "Site username; do you have any other accounts? If so, please list them here."

Then the next question could ask what you wanted to ask or have a poll for.

Remy Break wrote: Today, 16:40

Zachary Winslow wrote: Today, 16:35 I don’t distinguish between “poll” and “survey”; I use the two interchangeably. I was thinking to use the website’s voting tool to see what people think. We would have to find a way to prevent double votes.

English is not my first language, and I am sometimes not fluent enough to express clearly my thoughts.

Ah this is a problem considering our "next gen pcs/inpcs", staff accounts and also former-staff account, on top of current PC and iNPCs.

I don't know how you would ensure no one double votes even if you say "One account only". Can I suggest, and maybe its a silly thing, what if you used google forms for this. Don't collect email but you could ask "Site username; do you have any other accounts? If so, please list them here."

Then the next question could ask what you wanted to ask or have a poll for.

Maybe he could. Actually this is probs impossible, train the system to know that ex my INPC is Olivia Belle Sato, if she votes on one acct then they can’t vote on another acct?

Don't worry, we will figure out!

Remy Break wrote: Today, 16:40 I don't know how you would ensure no one double votes even if you say "One account only". Can I suggest, and maybe its a silly thing, what if you used google forms for this. Don't collect email but you could ask "Site username; do you have any other accounts? If so, please list them here."

I suspect staff could place limitations on the thread to be accessible only to Hogwarts students. I am not 100% familiar with admin privileges, but I know they're able to restrict and grant access to specific groups of users.

I'm giving my opinion as someone who, IRL, for a full-time job, is a creative. My entire paycheck depends on my creativity and my ability to make visually appealing things.

Generally, I am against AI. I despise using it for creative work. However, this is one of those rare situations where I am completely fine with it. Is it the most ideal situation? Not really. But oftentimes, the best solutions are not. I also want to point out, my favorite idea is to have a few, well-crafted backgrounds for key areas, accompanied by textures. We could also get really creative with these and have them have small moving elements, which I think would be super cool and help make up for some of that deeper immersion.

I've been around the RP sphere for a while, and I've seen similar things like this happen. Removing the images entirely removes the personality from a website and eventually kills the expressiveness. Immersivity has always been important- generally with plots, but I'd be lying if I said that visuals didn't play a key part of this.

Also, let me point out: having user-submitted art for every forum is not a feasible option. Most of the reasonings have already been pointed out, but I want to emphasize the sheer scale of it- it would just not be possible. We can't get through years of lessons without people leaving, and arguably, this takes much longer. I've also seen similar projects that have quickly failed due to these very reasons. However, for textures, I do think it could be reasonable for user submissions here! Since they are more subtle, it's definitely a little bit easier to potentially have it be an option.
One other key aspect of this is the importance of visual consistency. Many people don't realize the importance of branding unless you're actively working in it (like me) or it changes (Cracker Barrel, anyone?). Having different art styles would actually be a huge detraction, and while they may not be the focus, the brain notices these shifts and will subconsciously pick up that something is amiss. Some differences are a lot more pronounced, and actually brings attention more TOWARD something that should be in the background. Hence a need for consistency. The branding of this site has been vital to its success, and will have to keep its consistency in order to maintain that same characteristic.

On the topic of AI as used by users vs the site, though, they are two completely different things. Expecting someone to not use AI to write things for a writing site and then using it for backgrounds is not a shifting of the goalpost, there are simply different scales and intents. In addition, for user use of AI (and not AI) for graphics/profile pics/etc, this should generally fall under the fair use act for copyright law, and individual users would not be potentially suffering the same consequences as the website would. They are simply not to the same scale. Conversely, if we banned AI for individual users and kept AI backgrounds for the site, that's also fine, for the same reasons as above. Plus, the interactivity between users and the content makes it a whole lot more unethical to use AI in writing than in banners/etc (hence, why we banned it!). We're using our time to interact with these things.

Furthermore, some of the ethicality concerns are null here. This isn't stealing the job of an artist (no one's being paid), and there have been multiple suggestions to offset the environmental cost! These can be good options to ensure a positive impact.

There is nuance to this! I'd be more than happy to dive deeper into these subjects if needed. But the key here actually lies within the branding- and it seems AI is the best option to accomplish this, especially given time and ability constraints, if only for the time being.

I think one of the biggest things we have to miss out with in omitting backgrounds entirely is the personality of the site- and while that is impacted by the users, visuals take a key part in that. More importantly, it sounds like AI is what YOU, Zach, want and realize is best- and that's also important. Website moderating is hard, and if your soul and heart is not in the site, it will be reflected.

Remy Break wrote: Today, 16:40

Zachary Winslow wrote: Today, 16:35 I don’t distinguish between “poll” and “survey”; I use the two interchangeably. I was thinking to use the website’s voting tool to see what people think. We would have to find a way to prevent double votes.

English is not my first language, and I am sometimes not fluent enough to express clearly my thoughts.

Ah this is a problem considering our "next gen pcs/inpcs", staff accounts and also former-staff account, on top of current PC and iNPCs.

I don't know how you would ensure no one double votes even if you say "One account only". Can I suggest, and maybe its a silly thing, what if you used google forms for this. Don't collect email but you could ask "Site username; do you have any other accounts? If so, please list them here."

Then the next question could ask what you wanted to ask or have a poll for.

I agree with Remy's suggestion of using Google forms and asking the question