This message concerns the environmental aspect only.

I am not trying to deny the environmental impact of AI in general, which is very real. However, I would like to provide a few figures to help put into perspective the specific use we are discussing here.

Generating a satisfactory image on my graphics card takes roughly one to two minutes, which amounts to less than one cent’s worth of electricity and approximately 5 Wh of energy. According to a Google search, generating an image with ChatGPT would consume around 3 Wh, so the order of magnitude is consistent. By comparison, boiling one litre of water for tea requires about 110 Wh.

The website consumes between 15,000 Wh and 30,000 Wh per month, or approximately 20 to 40 Wh per hour. That is comparable to the consumption of a household refrigerator.

Generating one image therefore represents the equivalent of roughly four to ten minutes of the website’s server energy use. Generating 300 images, assuming that each image takes two or three attempts, would therefore represent approximately two to five days of the website’s operation.

From a strictly environmental perspective, if this level of use seems excessive, then the issue concerns the very existence of the website itself. And the website represents only a tiny fraction of the main environmental impact of digital technology, namely the manufacture of the smartphone or computer we are holding.

I am for doing AI made backgrounds. I am a staunch supporter of "If AI didn't exist would or could you pay an artist to do it?" I don't think AI should be used to take away the pay of artists, human expression over robots all the way!

However if the answer to that question is "No" I don't think its wrong to use AI. Especially for recreational purposes. Like say, backgrounds on a Roleplay Site, or Character Profile pictures you'll change in a year anyway, or making a visual for an idea you've had for a long time but don't have the skill or time to draw out. A lot of people are going to dismiss this out of hand because 'AI is evil'. Its not evil, its a tool. And I don't think there is anything wrong with using this tool in this manner.

I also hope that you check not only this thread, but the discord as well for people's opinions on this, as I know their are more people that agree with me on this. The problem is in recent years users have become a lot louder about their belief in banning AI from the site altogether. Which normally isn't a problem, everybody has a right to their beliefs! However people doing things like putting 'Ban AI' in their usernames has made those users feel uncomfortable, or even unsafe, posting about, or talking about AI. Which isn't stopping people from using AI like I'm sure they intend, rather just, stopping them from sharing it with the community.

That being said if somebody does happen to inherit millions of euros and have no idea what to do with it except donate it so we don't have to use AI images. I think a small team of artists should be hired to draw the backgrounds! Or maybe if we have AI images for the backgrounds, people will start donating more specifically for some sort of 'artist fund'. I am aware of how overly optimistic this is, but: If you never plan for a brighter future, how can you expect to handle one?

Lastly, if you do plan to use a big corporation AI, I highly suggest going through Bing's AI generator. Not just because they try to do a bunch of environmental stuff, but they offer the ability to check what images were pulled from to make your generated image. That way you can make sure that your image doesn't directly copy any one artist's image!

Also if there is anything I can do to help please let me know! I have a lot of experience working with AI in this manner and H.io has done a lot for me, so I am eager to return the favor.

I appreciate the extent to which Zachary has considered this and allowed us to be involved to a major degree, however I am also strongly against the AI usage in this community. I would much rather have a textured or blank backgrounds than AI content. Both me and others I have known had already been on the fence about joining a community that is willingly complicit in allowing AI imagery, and many of those already here share the same sentiment. This becomes a completely greater issue if staff decides to work with AI content themselves.

Legally, yes using AI may be better for the site compared to the existing images. However, from an ethical standpoint this is still entirely uses the existing work, skill, time, and energy of artists who are often not asked for their permission. We can assume, by default, there is no consent, and I'm tired of people considering that to be okay or not reason enough to avoid using this content.

I feel the others can and have covered this better than I, and I have no place to disagree with Zach's update on the note of the environmental impact, but I will argue this use will absolutely have a ripple effect and lead to more usage of it in staff and among players. This situation is setting a precedent and will garner a greater use for AI on the site as a whole, if not outside of it. Players as young as 11 have joined Hogwarts.io and may now internalize that the use of AI as officially acceptable. Many of these people will not see or consider your thoughtful and detailed account in this post. This will show your very popular community, with young impressionable attendants and others that are already looking for a reason to justify AI content, what values they're allowed to forgo.

You have said yourself that AI writing is moderated/forbidden as this site is meant to celebrate and connect with other writers, and I wholeheartedly appreciate and agree with that. However, where is that courtesy for the hundreds if not thousands of artists that frequently use this site and post art that they have created in relation to Hogwarts.io? Creatives use this site. Many if not most writers here are also makers and lovers of visual art and both of these things bring inherent value to this site. I believe both deserve equal respect, and that the existing imbalance of it is affecting the connection many players have to this site.

I would like to agree with the solutions of Adeline Spinks as I would have suggested similar things here, please note that I am cosigning the alternatives they have listed, as well as Erast Yan's follow up on the subject.

In the note of community art, I'd imagine Zach would have to consider the issue of copyright again. however I believe with the amount of members that would be contributing, it would be easy to continuously update art if an artist only allows permission for a certain time period. I understand this may not be ideal for Zach's mention of allowing the backgrounds to be familiar spaces, however I am confident that many artists will offer their work to be used on site for a very long time.

I myself am one of them. I would legitimately volunteer to draw for the nearly 400 forums entirely, for no payment or in-character currency (though the latter would be nice), and entirely give Hogwarts.io the legal rights to use this continuously. This is a huge undertaking, but I truly ask you to contact me upon interest as it is a solution I'm offering. I would rather this than the inclusion of AI content on your site, please understand what this tells you about your players' values and the damage they will sustain if the official use of AI content is passed. I think you underestimate how much your community is willing to provide in this situation.

Thank you to the others that posted here sharing their thoughts as that gave me the courage to submit this in detail. There have been several new posts here in the time that it has taken me to write this and I am honored to see so many of them. I would like to thank Zach for being continuously understanding and reflective of the gravity of these discussions, as well as the consistent and honorable work they have been putting into this site as a whole. Your work has not been lost on me and many others, thank you for leaving this topic open for the players to review.

The website is not replacing a paid artist, we never had paid artists. It is replacing copyrighted artwork that we can no longer (and honestly never could) legally use. Commissioning hundreds of original illustrations is financially unrealistic. Community art and photography are wonderful ideas, but they still require hundreds of images, artistic consistency, long-term commitment, editing, licensing, and coordination. When those members leave, they might want their work taken with them. We delete accounts and posts when players demand it, removing their footprint and creative impact. Volunteers burn out. Artists leave. Projects stall. We've all seen this happen on community projects before.

Photography also presents practical limitations. Hogwarts has moving staircases, enchanted ceilings, magical forests, underwater common rooms, and locations that simply do not exist in reality. Universal Studios is likewise not a viable solution from a copyright perspective. Those sets are themselves protected intellectual property. Further, people sharing local images does potentially doxx users.

I feel that backgrounds are secondary to the writing, they are decorative. Many members use AI-derived avatars and banners. The purpose of backgrounds is to provide atmosphere and if an ongoing project is successful to aid navigation. AI-derived backgrounds is not replacing anyone's creative work on the site, it rather supports it.

I also don't think it is fair to frame AI backgrounds as "tainting human creativity." Every post, every character, every plot, every lesson, every encyclopedia page, the actual substance of Hogwarts.io, is still written and created by people. That remains true regardless of how the forum banner was generated.

Regarding the environmental argument, I certainly agree that AI has environmental costs. But every option carries costs. Hosting the site consumes electricity continuously. Every page load, every uploaded image, every Discord message, every Google search has a carbon footprint. If the AI images are generated once and then used for years, that is very different from encouraging constant generation of disposable images. If Zach's estimate is even approximately correct, that creating the backgrounds represents something on the order of a week or two of the site's existing hosting energy, that strikes me as a relatively modest cost for an asset that could remain in use for many years.

I would like to also elaborate on the concept of volunteers based on the few posts noting the concept of contributors burning out and how long their projects will take. There are enough players on site that I believe there would be more than enough submissions for artwork in exchange for some in-character currency and credit. Artistic consistency is much less of an issue than the ones currently being discussed on the topic of AI usage.
In addition, I am not taking my offer earlier lightly to any degree. I am entirely offering 400 backgrounds within about 6 months, with the main caveat being that you would have to trust I am honest about my artistic ability to do so, will provide updates, and allowing the backgrounds to be used infinitely.

edit: if you'd like me to render a few within a week before you decide, I can do that too. I cannot overstate how serious I am.

I understand if this will not be considered an option as I'm aware this is a bit of a strange response, but I again think that the concept of volunteers should not be disregarded as a comparable option.

So, bold statement here. We have artists, fans of the website even, that use this site and even donate their time for free in making art for people here. It may be many frames, but I like to think the people here are willing to build something knowing it'll be a permanent part of the site. Contests can even happen, and it won't break copyright issues in the long run. Give people a chance. Look what they allowed alone via donations.

Vale Ashwood wrote: Yesterday, 18:21 So, bold statement here. We have artists, fans of the website even, that use this site and even donate their time for free in making art for people here. It may be many frames, but I like to think the people here are willing to build something knowing it'll be a permanent part of the site. Contests can even happen, and it won't break copyright issues in the long run. Give people a chance. Look what they allowed alone via donations.

I would like to second this. Perhaps, an Art committee could form from it eventually, similar to the Newspaper and the sport teams. They could, too, provide sprites and assets in the long run.

Thank you for being transparent and communicating this with us. Like many others, I understand why the current backgrounds need to go and would not be happy with them being replaced by AI generated images. I do like the alternatives proposed by other users (like using photos) but will wait to comment further for when the update comes.

I am looking forward to seeing what you came up with Zach! Thank you for your hard work

I honestly think that using AI generated images as backgrounds (since it is such a small thing) would be completely fine with me. I might be biased as someone who studies AI, but I feel it is another radical innovation that will take years to get used to. I do agree that AI is quite dangerous, and has many many many many downfalls. But it also can be a very helpful tool. Just like the iPhone or computer, things people at the time deemed too dangerous, AI will eventually become similar to that. Computers took away the jobs of human computers, the internet put newspapers out of business, and so much more. But newspapers still exist, just in a different way.
In this same way, AI will not replace humans, it doesn't have the critical thinking for that, but it will instead change the way that we think, and do things. Artists are not being replaced, artists are adapting to have AI help them. AI may be able to mimic a style but it will never have a "soul" or "story" behind it's work that humans do. Furthermore, while it is replacing some jobs, it is also creating so many new jobs.
In addition, generating AI images is not the main problem for the environment. It is training AI models which uses a lot of electricity and is bad for the environment. Generating an image takes some electricity but its so little like how much electricity you use to charge a phone. I personally have been attempting to create a solution to the pollution of water by datacenters and believe that it is a big and upcoming problem.
I honestly agree that creating art and taking photos will take so much time and effort by users that could pose problems in the future. While many of us may commit, this website (speaking for myself at least) is not my first priority. We have families, jobs, education, friends and so much more. But I do not speak for others so I can't say much about this. However, I do feel like if everyone set their minds to it, maybe even with a reward in mind (IC money?), and a real deadline, it could possibly be achieved.
I actually quite like the idea of using royalty free shutterstock images. They may not be perfect but with some editing skills by artists or by photographers, they could be turned into something much better than just their plain photos. This would give artists the chance to create but also take the workload off of them by giving them a starting point and a LOT less work to do.
Personally, using AI would be the best option but since I know many people are strongly against AI, using the Shutterstock images with some editing might be the safest option to do.
I know a lot of people are saying that no background images are better and I'm totally okay with that as well. I honestly really liked having a background that's why but I don't want to add extra work or anything!
No hate, I love everyone here so much but that's just my personal opinion! Also apologies for all my spelling and grammar errors, I wrote this quickly on my phone Also, some of this might not make any sense but I can expand on it later lol

TLDR: I'm fine with using AI, it would not bother me personally but since I know a lot of people are against it, I propose using Adeline Spinks idea of Shutterstock images and having a few artists or photographer edit them (filters, drawing over them, adding specific elements) to fit the aesthetic better. Some images could be drawn but this would reduce the amount of work by a lot at least I think. someone who's actually is an artist tell me if this is true! A black background is not my favorite option but I could get used to it. I'd also vote to keep AI usage to a minimal (never for writing, etc) because this should be a place for people to express their creativity without AI but this small thing, would not bother me.

Thank you Zach for all your work on this website, we really appreciate it!

Good evening, everyone,

First of all, thank you for this discussion. I understand most of the arguments that have been raised here.

I find myself fully agreeing with Solomon's post, and I believe that relying on artists or volunteers is simply beyond our means. Moreover, existing freely available artwork is extremely scarce and, in practice, not a viable option.

That leaves us with only two realistic choices: either no images at all, or AI-generated images.

The visual design of the site is ultimately my responsibility. This site is my baby, I care deeply about it, and I want to be genuinely happy with the final result. As such, I will ultimately take responsibility for what I believe is the best choice.

Here's what I'd like to propose.

First, I'll remove the current background images for a few days. This will allow everyone to see what the site would look like without them, since that's the option several of you have advocated.

Hopefully sometime this week, I'll unveil the new navigation system I've been working on for the past several weeks, which is built around these images, along with a small surprise that goes with it. I'll also add an option in everyone's preferences to enable or disable the images as they wish.

Once you've had a chance to compare the site over the next few days without background images and then with the new version (with backgrounds) I'll be presenting, I suggest we revisit the discussion and exchange our thoughts again.

I'd better get back to it. I still have a lot of work ahead of me!

Zachary