I've really hesitated about posting this journal as it's been on my mind for some weeks now. But I feel like I'm about to open a huge can of worms, I mean even bigger than my recent outbursts about stuff.

There’s someone posting here on FA that I suspect is using AI for their "art".
It’s either that or tracing from other people's work, or a mix of AI + tracing.
Unless they’re using some technique that managed to fool me?...But I trust my skills and experience enough to believe the red flags I’m seeing.

I won't say who it is as it goes against the code of conduct and I don’t want people to harass them.
I won’t report them either since some FA mods are more trigger happy than me when I post angry journals while throwing in the C word (boy, do I look like and sound like Kylian sometimes).
I know I'm good at ranting and yelling, but in fact I don’t like conflict nor drama, and boy do some furs loooove drama...
I don't want to ruin anyone's life and reputation just because of this.
I don’t want people to harass them, or to harass me while accusing me of starting witch hunts and going after other artists with false accusations.

Plus I’m not 100% sure they are using AI. It’s just a strong suspicion, corroborated by someone else who checked the artist’s work.
But we're not sure.

What really makes me feel bad is that damage is done and we can’t go back.
I no longer can appreciate anything online without questioning if it was human made or not. I’ve already been fooled by AI more than once.
Heck, I can no longer trust art on FA either, this is what it’s come to.
I would have never asked myself that question 5 years ago, and I am so glad I was able to start posting here decades ago, working on my skills and style over the years, way before the “AI-Slopaplypse”.
Now on the rare occasions I commission someone, I have to triple check they're a legit artist which also sucks.
And since we’re on that topic, just in case: is you’re using AI, please DO NOT send me or post AI art of my characters under the pretense of fan or gift art, or pretend it was human-made. I find that rude and even insulting. That’s like putting someone else’s OC in NSFW situations they’re not comfortable with without their permission. I know some of you might think it’s harmless since AI is here to stay (or that we artists should shut up, adapt and whatever, because "we deserve it for being gatekeepers"), but I will always choose a so-so sketch full of honesty, creativity and human-made mistakes than AI slop.

Anyway, this needed to come out.
Just hoping I’m completely wrong. And if that artist is indeed using AI, they should come clean since they’re lying to their audience and mainly to themselves. Momentary fame and ego boost is not worth digging one’s own grave.

I guess I'll just ask you to be careful when seeing stuff here, but also mindful: don't get paranoid, don't start pointing fingers and reporting people over a mere suspicion. You have to be 100% certain, and even then anyone accused has the right to defend their art and reputation. Because anyone could be accused of using AI: it could happen to me, you, your friends, anyone...
And accusing each others with witch hunts is exactly what some tech bros want, while slowly replacing and silencing us.

These are tough times, but let's try to keep appreciating and creating meaningful human-made art.