AI or nay for crochet?

I have recently started to write my own crochet patterns so that my classes actually work from my pattern rather than us all using someone else's. I feel like this is a perfect next step for my crochet journey. Whilst I have made many things from my head over the years, I have never written the patterns down, and I have never considered selling them. I have enjoyed challenging myself with different crochet skills, and always love to learn more.

As a result of doing this, I have been doing a lot of research into best ways to write patterns and finding out what patterns are selling really well currently. Within this research I have spoken to so many creators and designers who are currently devastated about the fact that there is new giant in town which is causing quite a stir. That giant is enticing people to crochet, but not with a great ending. That giant is AI.

I have honestly put off writing this blog post so many times, in fear that it will come across that I am against AI, and honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. I have used AI both for business and for pleasure, and I absolutely intend to continue to do so. I find there are so many fun aspects of AI that you can use. I have used it to make funny pictures, change myself into a cartoon and I am ashamed to say, I have even used it to write a message inside of a greeting card that I was struggling to find the words!

So why am I upset with AI in the crochet world?

For anyone who has read any of my very passionate blogs about crafting and crochet before, or for those of you who have been taught by me in any capacity, you will know that the biggest passion I have for learning any skill, is watching people who have wanted to achieve something, put some effort into learning that skill, and then achieving it at the end. It fills my heart to the brim to see people turning that impossible dream into a physical possibility. I will often capture the faces of my students when they make something that they didn't think they would be able to, in my mind (and sometimes with a camera!) The joy beaming from their faces make everything feel so fabulous!

So please imagine that moment of getting your new pattern that you are so excited to make, being so excited because you know you have learned that skill. You have felt like you have accomplished something that you thought was not going to be possible. You have picked that pattern based on the picture because the colours inspired you, and the pattern looks so wonderful that you can not wait to create it; but then questioning why your final product looks NOTHING like the picture you picked. You start to doubt your ability and feel like you can't actually manage this skill independently.

Handmade vs AI generated

Unfortunately, what you are not aware of is that the picture you were so excited to make was AI and would be absolutely impossible to make. Your creation looks nothing at all like the picture, but this is not a fault of yours, and you aren't even aware that the most amazing and accomplished crocheter in the World would not be able to create what you had wanted to make, because the picture is not in fact crochet!

Take these daisys for example. Creating crochet flowers for a vase, or even a bridal bouquet can look beautiful, but you will never manage to make them look like these AI generated ones, because if you made them yourself, each one would be slightly different! (I would also hope that you wouldnt feel the need to put water in the vase like this AI image suggests you should!)

How to spot it?

Each image of AI generated crochet will look like it is almost too perfect to be true. When any creator makes something, you will always be able to spot small flaws, and it will not look absolutely perfect, but will have a perfectly imperfect charm. Also, the yarn that we have access to can be beautiful, however, you will see with some of the images here that the yarn used to make some of these images looks far too good to be true!

It looks too good to be true- because that is exactly what it is! It would be nearly or completely impossible to create some of the shapes and textures that you can see here.

Whilst theses AI images are stunning, and could definitely inspire some beautiful ideas to crochet. The colour work, and perfect symmetry, or impossible positioning of some parts make it a lot harder for those people who are spending their time to produce a beautiful crochet design and pattern. It is the designers within the crochet community who are finding these AI designs to be problematic to their genuine thirst to create something beautiful and manageable.

Can you make me one of these?

As someone who absolutely LOVES to make a special piece of crochet for people, I can not tell you how much my heart sinks when presented with an image which is obviously a generated and untrue image, and asked the question "can you make this?" The moment I try to point out to people that I can make something that looks something like that, but that it will never look as perfect, I already feel like I am letting people down. Once that image has been planted, I will never be able to make something that will come up to that impossible standard.

So - like the Whale, I have to say, as a crochet teacher, pattern designer and someone who loves to crochet as often as is physically possible, I can't in good faith say Yay for AI. It would definitely be a Nay from me!

All of the pictures I have used in this blog have been from google. Therefore they are not my own content. At this point, I have never generated my own crochet images or patterns. As someone who loves crochet, I don't want to artificially make something that would not be possible to create. Whilst AI is an amazing tool at our fingertips for so many things today, my hope from now on is that anyone who loves to crochet will always recognise when an image that they want to recreate is an authentic image or not. If not, that they can be inspired by the picture, but not feel disappointed when their wonderful crochet pieces are completed. I feel it is always important to remember when creating anything that there is charm in handmade imperfections. Things do not need to look upon their work with disdain, but instead focus on the unique qualities of handcrafted items.