AI and background images

During all this discussion, I've tried to stay silent, even though there were a lot of moments where I wanted to speak out.

So I'm sorry if this sounds rude, I swear it's not my intention, but I'll try and give MY opinion.

Even the poll now is so misleading, it's backgrounds vs no backgrounds. No one has explained other suggested choices. They were not even tried out.
I know it's your site, but I as a community member for almost 2.5 years, believe I have the right to call out things that are just wrong.
But perhaps I was expecting too much because the decision had already been made from day 1.

If it weren't for Zach, this site wouldn't exist in the first place, so I think any disrespect towards hio is directly disrespect towards him. So you saying that he didn't even consider our opinions is just... not. He considered it. If he didn't, this thread wouldn't exist in the first place. And you saying that the decision had been made since day 1, once again, if he had taken that decision "since day 1", why does this thread exist? He didn't wake up one day and said "Oh yeah, I'll make a huge debating thread where everyone will fight and hate each other, even though I already know what to do. I'm bored, why not?"

"Not a safe space for AI users", but should it be? Should it even be allowed on site in any form?
I have seen people using it on a personal level and haven't done much to call it out before, because it seemed safe to stay quiet. A lot of the AI users I know have been really nice to me, and I did not want to do anything to hurt them.

I, MIKAELA, believe this is just wrong. "Should it be?" Okay, I know we have our ideals, but it feels like you're just silencing a whole community pro AI just because you don't like it. It's like a hate discurse, even though I KNOW it's not. I understand why and how you said that. But I think the words you chose... could have been more neutral.

Now, my stance in this:

I, personally, don't like AI. But not liking and not using it are different things. You said you used it once or twice. I did it, too, even though I DON'T LIKE IT. We can't say "I hate AI so I don't consume it daily" cause that's a lie. We consume AI daily without even noticing it. In social media, ads, everywhere. We've all seen videos and double-checked if they're real or not, so it's hypocritical from anyone to say "I never used AI" when we know they did.

I had once used AI to help me write an assignment I could have been creative about. I reasoned with myself, I am sick, I have no one to help me, I am alone, everyone's doing it so I can do it too. It was only once. Before I realised it was easy and I could use it on my next assignment.
Two weeks of going back and forth with AI.
And I was drowned with guilt.
I could not write anymore, my writing skills dwindled, my ability to think and create dwindled.

I also did this at high school. I also used AI for assignments, when I could just use my brain, I didn't. And I recognize it. Now, I'm trying to reduce the use of AI in my daily life not because I just don't like it, but because I believe in human creativity. I can't say I don't use it daily, cause I do, sometimes. We all do.

But you said it yourself: It's a talent, you can learn. I used AI, and still I never forgot how to write, because ITS A TALENT. You can't go around, promoting hate speeches, saying "I used AI for two weeks and I forgot how to write properly". You can't forget how to so something you've been doing your whole life. Don't blame AI for your writing skills.

Now, I'm not defending it. I'm still against AI. But I also understand it's useful in SOME ways. I can't deny the truth.

Once again, this is all thanks to Zach. If he wants to keep this thread open, we can't force him otherwise. And if he wakes up tomorrow and shuts down the site because of the hate, we'll accept it. Because it's HIS site, HIS decisions to make.

I'm not attacking no one, I'm just saying this SHOULD be a safe place for EVERYONE, not just Anti AI team. Everyone. And, once again, I'm sorry if I came out as rude. I didn't mean to. Sorry if I offended anyone with my words, it's just my opinion.

Thanks, Zach.

Adding on to Mikeala, I use AI daily as well by roleplaying by myself. Yes I know it's wrong etc but when I wanna rp with a canon character and no one wants to do it with me I'd just be basically writing a short story. Now while I do use AI for that I still write on here, I still create roleplays without the help of AI, without even asking it for help. I write it all on my own and it sounds pretty great. I'm for the use of AI as background images but not as writing with other people.

Thanks, Zach you are amazing!

the thing is, mikaela, one can obviously NOT forget a skill..... but the way it was before, the way it just came straight out of the mind? that can be forgotten, even for a short period of time....
ever heard that w/o practice, nothing's good? thats the same case....

And I understand it perfectly, Lily, but what I meant is that saying "I lost practice of writing because of AI" is just not. You can use AI for a year and still know how to write IF you have your own limits with it. You can't blame it on the AI when you didn't have the initiative to write for yourself either. You can do both at the same time. It's on you.

I have been staying out of this discussion, as I absolutely hate conflict.
I am neither completely with, or completely against AI.
I personally think that it is crazy how this discussion is affecting people, making them even leave the site. This shouldn’t have been a place where people felt unheard, or attacked. But it has ended up being one.
I know that the majority of people who have hurt others feelings do not mean to do it. But, it is happening anyway. If you are getting angry or upset about this topic, take a break from it. It’s when people write things with really strong emotions that they come across wrong.

But, the main purpose of this message is to say that, whatever the outcome of the vote is, I will support the site, even if I am unable to donate money. I will support whatever outcome happens, and I am just so glad that you are all trying to give us a voice on the site. I love h.io so much, and I hate to see that this discussion has gone off in a different direction, hurting people. I know that wasn’t the purpose of it, and I really hope it wasn’t the purpose of anyone who posted.

Thank you so much @Zachary Winslow, @Solomon Lear, @Jessamine Lancaster, @Aiko Mori, @Samuel Sauber, and @Edith Alarie. You are all amazing people, and I want to thank you so much for everything you do for the site. I will support you no matter what decision you make. Thank you so, so much

And I hope I spelt your names correctly!

Thank you Zach for your consideration throughout this whole discussion, I have always understood that regardless of the outcome, your intentions have always been good and that you have gone out of your way to be open-minded even when this topic has been thoroughly difficult.

I appreciate the amount of positive changes this update may otherwise bring. I hope that effort has not been lost on anyone, and that many misgivings others have had with the inclusion of AI and its discussion were not caused by Zach. I do truly hope that the use of community art, Lear had mentioned earlier, will come to fruition, and that the results will be ones Zach is happy with if that is the case.

To the most recent comments in here, any conscious act to consume less gen-AI in your life is good, irrespective of if you've used it prior, it is never too late to reevaluate that use and those that do are immensely brave for doing so. I would always hope that you all do continue to write, draw, and create art as yourselves regardless of who you are and that you are in spaces where you are safe to do so.

as a note to an earlier comment of Zach's in this thread about the font/color/size of text I used earlier; I removed its use here for readability, I do apologize for my post format being difficult to read. the idea of having a toggle for those features for accessibility purposes would be great if it isn't too difficult for you to implement. thank you as well for the recent updates on font choices, there is quite a large amount of customizability in many of the options (e.g. fonts/animations/etc) we have been given. I truly appreciate how much time and energy this must have taken among many other updates from now since 21 years ago, as I can only imagine it.

That is as much as I have to say for now, thank you for the space to do so.

I personally would rather have blank backgrounds then AI backgrounds. Just because the use of those AI pictures will be long-term, the amount of times it'd take to refine the AI results to be something satisfactory for the site's backgrounds would still be contributing quite a lot to the issues with generative AI.

On top of that there's more cons to AI then just the social/environmental ones. There's the part where, in the future, copyright laws may be used against AI. There's been a few laws already put out restricting AI use, and, if artists win the fight against it [which I hope we will] the site could run into the exact same problem that it is having now with the current images.

There's also the issue of inconsistencies between pictures. Currently the site's backgrounds all have a consistent style, and I'm dubious if AI could be consistent enough to match this. If there's going to be inconsistencies, might as well just keep the backgrounds blank and slowly build up commissioned background art for the site.

While you mentioned how many places would need background images and what the cost of, that's looking at doing it all in one go. We don't need backgrounds in almost every single part of the site, just getting backgrounds for the important areas and reusing that background for areas within those main areas would work just fine if we really think it's necessary for 'immersion'.

As someone else pointed out, we could also just use photography. Photography is just as much art as painting or drawing is, and, alongside this, it's more accessible. While there's no castles as grand as Hogwarts is depicted in the books, there are a lot of castles out there, especially on the 'old world' [Europe, Ireland, France] that can be toured, and I'm sure some allow photography. For example, I visited Bram castle in Romania, and it had an amazing courtyard. It was small compared to what Hogwarts was likely meant to have, but framing can keep that less noticeable because people can just assume it's taken near the wall of the courtyard. In France, if you take photos during tours, you automatically own those photos, and thus would be safe to use them as you please. And people who may offer up photos are letting you use them willingly, so as long as they're active on the site, there's no copyright problems.

As others have mentioned, we can also let Hio's community of artists make backgrounds that can be voted for, and it can be a big event that can get people galleons as a reward. While commissioning art is always the best way to support artists, so long as the artists consent, there's nothing wrong with rewarding them with 'fake' money. And their art can be protected from AI scraping with programs like Glaze and Nightshade. Both are anti-AI software, the former makes AI struggle to decode and scrape the art, the latter 'poisons' it by making the AI think the art is of something else, thus corrupting the image and making the AI output incorrect results when people try to generate stuff and the AI tries to use your art as a reference.

All these options would be preferable. Giving into generative AI, no matter the excuse, simply helps the AI companies, even if you aren't using their AI models. It normalizes the use of something that shouldn't be normalized.

Note I'm not against AI in its entirety, AI can genuinely help the world, whether it be medically, or something more grand like helping us map out the universe. Generative AI is a stain on good AI that actually helps humanity, and in fact actually hurts humans. Given this community has many artists, I simply think AI is not fit for this site.

IMO the vivid backgrounds take away from the reliance on setting descriptions in text, removing agency from the user to set the scene. It actively detracts from the effectiveness of the writing by being so distracting.

Pushing aside the ethical minefield, which has already been heavily discussed, If AI images are to be used at all, they should be used in site navigation and OOC areas, not RP pages.

Despite qualms about branding, Its sad that the power of textural designs to provide subtle atmosphere and user designs go underappreciated in this push for marketability.

You win some and you lose some ig. By that I could mean integrity, originality, or authentic identity, but what I really mean is people. They're all leaving.

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Sergei Voronin wrote: 29 Jul 2026, 23:29 There's also the issue of inconsistencies between pictures. Currently the site's backgrounds all have a consistent style, and I'm dubious if AI could be consistent enough to match this. If there's going to be inconsistencies, might as well just keep the backgrounds blank and slowly build up commissioned background art for the site.

Just in case you were unaware, the current backgrounds are the AI backgrounds.

I’ve been looking at your different opinions and here is my opinion: in my opinion, I personally only dislike the VERY OBVIOUS or WEIRD LOOKING AI images/ backgrounds. Currently the ones being used doesn’t look very AI, so I don’t really mind it. I know some of you guys might say like, “Oh but AI sucks” or something like that no offense ofc guys! but I am slowly getting used to AI being used for image. Because like, in my school irl, there is a lot of AI being used— for presentations, images, signs and even for studying! So as you can see or read! I am rlly used to AI being around! Btw, I actually don’t mind the current backgrounds being used! I think it looks pretty good ngl… And that is, my honest opinion. Sooo basically, I do not mind if there is an AI background or not! Once again, I’m rlly srry if I have offended you in any way! I did not mean to offend you, as this is my honest opinion…