The topic of AI in the needlework world has been on my radar for well over a year. But I’ve hesitated about writing on the subject of Artificial Intelligence because I didn’t believe that it would really influence the embroidery world all that much – not the real embroidery world, where real people are interested in doing real things with their real hands and their real minds, using real materials.
But AI is becoming more and more influential in several aspects of “popular” needlework as time goes on. If you spend much time online and you explore needlework especially in social networks, you’ve probably come across AI in one form or another. It’s not just in images – it’s in writing, too – but lately, the images are The Big Hook. They’re the things that draw you in.
Keep in mind, though, that it’s not the real designers, the real teachers, the real artists that are driving AI into the creative world.
I picked a cat for the AI-generated image above because I figured it would catch your attention.
From a marketing perspective, I know that “animals sell” in my particular niche, in the demographic of people that I’m trying to reach. There are a lot of pet people (and probably the majority are cat people) in the needlework world.
And when it comes to much of the use of AI online, that’s what it is all about. It is about marketing in some form or another.
(The image of the “embroidered” cat above is not real, in case you missed the message. That is completely AI-generated.)
Why are We Talking About AI?
There are three things that prompted me to write this article:
1. I received an email from a reader, asking for help to embroider a design she purchased.
2. I became increasing aggravated after floundering in the unreal world of AI needlework images off and on all weekend while I tried to pen a considerate but firm reply to the aforementioned email.
3. I came across a good article on the same subject of AI in the needlework world while I was messing about with the subject.
Lolli and Grace on AI in the Embroidery Community
I encourage you to read this article on AI in the Embroidery Community over on the blog at Lolli and Grace.
My Brief Experience with AI
About a year or so ago, I went to a business presentation on AI, sponsored by a chamber of commerce. The whole point was pretty much how to make AI work for you as a business.
I left feeling disenchanted with the whole world, discouraged as a small creative business, and excessively sad.
It’s true that AI works really well for the business-oriented world. AI is The Thing that businesses today are using to generate and drive their marketing.
It’s crept into online creative communities in ways other than simply with images.
In fact, images are the newcomers – and they haven’t even fully developed yet. AI imaging will continue to improve, and maybe some day, it will be difficult to discern between real embroidery images and AI-generated “embroidery” images.
Before images, AI generated text was already in full swing in the online world. Many (I would say “most” today, if they’re attached at all to any large business) online writers use AI to generate their writing ideas, their outlines, instructions, and even the whole text of articles. They skim over the AI-generated article and tweak a few things and call it done. If they’re smart, they might fact-check the article, because AI can get things wrong.
I don’t want to disenchant you with your favorite “big business” blogs and so forth, but that’s the “reality” (talk about a paradox!) of the situation.
I toyed with AI images and AI-generated text as an exercise during the time I was attending the presentations mentioned above.
These are some of my thoughts, reflections, and observations when working through some AI “experiments” as I got familiar with the different AI generators.
When it came to AI-generated text, it took me longer to generate decent writing than it took for me to write the text myself. I enjoy the entire process of writing. AI detracts from the enjoyment and overcomplicates it. Coming up with prompts to get the generator to say what I wanted it to say – and to say it precisely, sincerely, and naturally – took much longer than doing it myself without AI.
As an image exercise, I generated a few intentionally-cartoonish images. (I even used them on my website during the time-frame that I was participating in these presentations. This Very Weird Turkey is one of them.)
I can see the purpose AI-generated cartoonish illustration – they don’t bother me so much, because the produced images are Intentionally Fake.
What bothers me is when AI-generated images are passed off as not-fake (especially in the embroidery world – it just gets my goat for so many reasons).
The other thing that bothers me (remember, I was doing this stuff with business-minded people from a chamber of commerce event) is that everything AI that I encountered and learned about was all geared towards one inevitability: it was all intended to sell.
So whether we were generating some kind of “marketing text” (again, passed off to sound like something we wrote) or whether we were generating some kind of “marketing image,” it was all marketing, marketing, marketing.
I would be a fool to say that businesses shouldn’t “market.” I’m in business. I do have to survive as a business.
But it just seems so darned Fake to me, to have some generative technology produce what I should be able to say myself, if I truly believe that the thing that I’m selling would be good for you to have and worth your buying.
And to have generative technology produce a blog or social media post, passing it off as if a real person wrote it? That just strikes me as dishonest all around.
(That image above is weird. Notice the finger that should be holding the needle. What is that? And behind the ring? Is that aluminum foil? LOL!)
It’s such a strange world that we live in, isn’t it?
AI isn’t going to go away. But that doesn’t mean we have to use it.
And sure, not all uses of AI are dishonest. Not at all! There are legitimate uses for AI and for the technology behind it.
Going Back to That Email
But when my reader reached out and asked for stitch instructions for the design she was working on, which she had purchased off Etsy, I was sad… and a little mad.
She was sold an AI-produced image that made no sense for hand embroidery, with a rather inaccurate line drawing of the image printed on a piece of cheap cotton. No instructions, of course, because the people producing these things don’t know anything about hand embroidery.
She could certainly have interpreted the design in any way she wanted, but she wanted the finished product as it was promised by the AI image because she thought it was really cool.
I felt sorry for her. She was disappointed, but I think perhaps she gained a little knowledge through the experience.
Hopefully, she wasn’t put off embroidery for the rest of her life.
That’s All, Folks!
I really don’t want to waste a lot of time on the subject of AI, because for me, it’s a no-go all around. I’m not into it. I don’t see the point. I prefer to be me and to be real.
If people find a creative outlet playing with AI, good for them! Like any tool, it can be used for good or for bad. It all depends on how it’s used.
I hope this little mention of AI in the needlework world, though, will help you be aware that it’s out there. Don’t be duped by designs that are “too good to be true.”
Remember that there are real designers, teachers, manufacturers, artists, and craftspeople out there who have poured their hearts, souls, and lives into the real needlework world.
Seek them out!
Excellent article, thank you!!
Amen to this, and not just in Embroidery-Land, either. I had to contact Amazon awhile back because I found some AI-generated Pokemon crochet books that would have easily fooled people who weren’t knowledgeable enough about it. It’s hard to trust anything now 🙁
I found an embroidery book with AI generated content that was absolute rubbish, and the cover image on the book was my Crewel Rooster. Grrrrrrrr. >:-(
Great article, and I totally agree! I think there’s enough “false” and “fake” out there these days. By the way…I loved that “weird” turkey, back when you posted it originally and again today when I got another chuckle!
Watch out for AI generated ‘books’ too! Some tatting ‘books’ have appeared on Amazon which are cobbled together from various sources, overall nonsense with stolen images.
I’m sure the same thing is happening for other fiber arts.
Yes, it is happening in the other fiber arts, too.
I used to work in numerical modeling of the coastal environment. We had a saying – garbage in, garbage out. The result was only as good as our understanding of the real world and the assumptions we made. Same applies to AI. Without clear references for the sources of data and logic feeding the AI programs, we are doomed to end up with junk and fake (inaccurate) info. Fingers crossed for future.
Thank you!
Thank you for this explanation and story. It is confusing as an older generation person to know what to trust on-line and what to be suspicious of! And I can’t quite imagine a use for AI generated art….. speaking as an artist…. and needle-person. Half the enjoyment is in the doing of the work, the other half the accomplishment. If you are really doing neither, then what is the point?
Your information is enlightening.
That is so well written and so true, especially as you are not real lol !
I so agree with you ~ enjoy your week,
Hugs Louise
I’m not? Wow. I wish you would tell the ache in my head that I’m not real. Maybe it would leave me alone! LOL!
Excellent article!
Good article! I am seeing more and more people writing about AI and being a little disappointed. However like you say AI is here to stay and we do need to be informed. I am so glad to know that you, your writing and your embroidery photos will continue to be the real thing (but I never doubted you wouldn’t be!). I love all the informative pieces you post on your blog. It’s my “go to” website when I have an embroidery question. Keep up the great work Mary!
You just echoed my thoughts on the whole AI thing, especially where hand embroidery is concerned. AI can never replace real designs by real people just as machine embroidery can never replace real hand embroidery. That brings me to another pet peeve of mine. In my opinion, machine embroidery is not real embroidery and should be called something else.
It is sad that there will be people too, who would use these “AI embroidered” images and pass it of as their own work on social media. How sad is that! They are cheating plain and simple. I don’t know what kind of satisfaction it gives them, but then again we live in a very upside down world lately. Kind regards, Elza from Cape Town.
The sad thing for me about AI images in general is that they ‘steal’ posted online art to train the machines, so the original artists are not getting paid either. Those fake AI images being used by the businesses to sell fake embroidery patterns that are impossible to make — they took from pictures of actual embroidered art online to generate that fake image. Those are other real people and businesses who are not selling their own work. The whole thing is a mess.
Thank you for sharing this, Mary. I had a look at Etsy and it’s stuffed with this rubbish. What is really sad is that a lot of these are bought as gifts and the recipients probably don’t want to complain. The reviews are written before anyone has tried to stitch the designs so at first glance they look ok.
If you are in the know, one giveaway is the difference in price between the fake and the genuine.
AI generated pictures and scams are rife in the crafting space unfortunately! I see it everywhere on facebook and etsy in relation to embroidery, cross stitching, crochet and knitting spaces. It’s very discouraging for beginners looking to self-teach who don’t know how to tell what is and isn’t AI and end up wasting money on fake AI generated patterns and kits.
I’ve seen AI generated crochet patterns that are just completely nonsensical in their instructions and poor beginners feeling confused and frustrated thinking that they had done something wrong because they aren’t able to make anything close to resembling the AI generated piece.
Not sure how to deal with the problem. I think maybe more awareness needs to be raised by leaders and influencers in their relative spaces to point out fake AI works and to help beginners be aware and cautious. I’ve seen some great videos and guides released that gives tips to spot fakery. Businesses like Etsy has a role to play to deal with scams as well I think.
Couldn’t agree more with everything you said. You’d think a non digital craft like embroidery would be safe from AI, but sadly no one is safe.
I find it deeply disappointing that a chamber of commerce would encourage its members to use genAI for their marketing rather than go to small creative businesses for the same purpose. They’re shooting themselves on the foot both ethically* and in a broader sense, they’re failing their own community. Allow me to paraphrase something that’s been said by a lot of people since genAI became a thing: why would I want to purchase something that someone couldn’t be bothered to promote properly? GenAI advertising looks fake, generic and cheap. It doesn’t entice me to give this company my money.
I’ve been following the genAI discourse for a while now, and something I’ve noticed is that the people who tend to defend this use for AI technology seem to care only about the end result rather than the process. There’s a lot of talk of “democratizing” the arts, as if people have been denied the chance to be creative until now, which is, of course, untrue. We all know that sometimes our skill level doesn’t match our vision, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been able to express ourselves creatively. We keep trying, we learn, we enjoy this process because the process is part of what being creative is all about, not coming up with an image that gets lots of likes on social media.
I think it’s up to us to seek out actual creative people, promote and support their work. We should educate ourselves on the subject and share with others what we know, and vote with our money.
Thank you so much for this post.
*many of these points are mentioned in the blog entry shared by Mary, but broadly speaking, genAI relies on huge datasets of images, text, video, etc to produce their LLM (large language models). These LLMs work by producing an image/text/etc that statistically seems to match the requirements set by the user, but in and of itself the system doesn’t understand what it’s producing, hence weird hands or extra limbs. This is why it’s called genAI by many (generativeAI) as opposed to plain AI, as there is no actual intelligence involved.
The problem with these datasets is that, for the most part, they’ve been formed by scraping every image and word posted online, almost always without consent or compensation to whoever created said image. This creates the ethical problem of a company profiting from someone else’s work without compensating them, or sometimes against their will. Several lawsuits have been filed by all kinds of media institutions and artists to defend their work.
Finally, running these genAI programs requires *a lot* of computing, which means there’s a huge need for both electricity and water (to cool down all the extra high power servers used to run genAI). This is, as you might imagine, less than ideal for the environment.
I was just going to say the same thing, the resource hungriness of genAI, the fact that only a vanishingly small proportion of the data used to train the models is used with permission, and the fact that the data used is taken with no concern for data security add up to it all being a big no on the ethics front for me.
You have to opt out of letting microsoft word scrape everything you type in it – a huge data protection fail for everyone using it to draft letters to people about things like health conditions, finances etc!
And there’s scammers gaming AI summaries in search engines to get people to call them rather than the legit customer services of companies they’re trying to contact.
Oh my goodness. Your work is so beautiful, it puts AI to shame. 🙂
Hey Mary! I found your website while I was looking for embroidery websites at work for a customer. When I am not working at this marketing agency, I am at home and draw. I have my own small business and attend conventions.
When I saw that you wrote about the topic of AI and how it influences every creative circle, even EMBROIDERY PATTERNS (I never thought about that before because I am a digital artist). I felt intrigued what your thoughts are. I am always happy to see other creatives speak out against the use of AI in a creative area, writing, designing etc. and I also liked that you touched up on the fact that yes, it has its REAL uses and its not all bad, but GEN AI is not it.
When I go on social media and I see “artists” who only “design” with AI to sell, I get saddened and disheartened, but whenever I see people like you speak up against it, and still create even when the current environment is riddled to hell and back with this AI filth, it gives me hope that we creatives will be fine! So yes, maybe you writing about this on your page didn’t influence the embroidery world all that much, it made ME happy to read about it.
Thank you! Have a lovely day !!!
Thank you for the needlework specific tips for detecting AI photos, and the link to the other blog about AI and needlework. Very interesting reading.
AI will hurt hand crafters because it is selling them unreal images that will breed dissatisfaction in makers of varying skill levels and encourage them to quit since they cant get it as perfect as the fake AI image promises. One is even tempted to say distrust the “air brushed” image, but there are many real human air brush artists who do amazing work. I guess you just have to trust your instincts when looking at images and text. If it seems “off”, its probably for a reason.
Thank you for (another) fabulous post! I think the worst impact is on new stitchers. It saddens me to know folks give up on embroidery because there were no directions in the kit or they didn’t understand what to do as there is no need for that because there are so many designers, teachers and organizations (like the Embroiderers’ Guild of America) who are ready and willing to teach! We all learn differently but I think your stitch-a-long series is a fantastic place to start for beginners.
It’s happening in cake decorating, too. The designs on cakes are amazing, and not physically possible. Also crochet.
And if I might add onto something because it is the season — always be aware of where you are purchasing goods. They are looking for money.
I ran into several “websites” selling an embroidery kit. Weirdly, they all looked alike. Very charming not simple embroidery kit. The price seemed very low, and it was on sale. The reviews on the websites were all good, mostly. I think they know it looks more real if a couple of them aren’t.
You can now image search from your phone. I think it’s called Google lens.
I found the original on Etsy. She is selling the pattern only, no kit. And she is aware that these stores that don’t really exist in reality have stolen her pattern and images.
Oh gosh, that is so Annoying!!!
Yes, I think price is always a good indicator of where a project is coming from. You know all the adorable little kits that pop up for sale on social media, that seem to be coming from an individual designer? If you image search, you’ll find the same kits (or very, very similar-looking) available through other websites, under a name that seems to be that of a different individual designer (but the names are usual similar-sounding). They’re all coming from exactly the same place, and mostly, that’s China.
This is comforting to read. As a heavy creative myself its so hard to see an artists hard work stolen, ripped apart, and spat back out for the purpose of cheap and easy “art”. The entire conversation around generative AI and the like is extremely frustrating for me because so many people around me don’t seem to grasp the dangers and risks.
Not only do creatives suffer long term for having their art stolen right from under them, but the lackluster results could never justify the energy it costs and its toll on the environment. Of course trying to explain this to people on a day to day makes me seem like a buzz kill so we pick and choose our battles.
That being said, reading the perspective who has been to in-person discussions on the matter feels like a breath of fresh air. If it helps there’s a recent Goldman Sachs article on the topic that seems to prove the opposite of what business and marketing types are trying to tell (sell) us. I’ll try linking the article for anyone who’s interested, its a heafty 31 pages so feel free to skim 😛
Thanks so much again!
Goldman Sachs “Gen AI: Too much spend, too little benefit?”
to echo the other comments – Thank you! I am also a quilter and non-quilter friends are constantly tagging me on AI quilt patterns. Rule of thumb, if it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Thank you for your wonderful articles and site. I just wish there were more hours in the day as having two needle work hobbies is challenging.
Thanks so much for your post about AI in needlework. Just after reading the post, I was looking for books on online, and was shocked to see a “needlepoint handbook” that had apparent crewel embroidery as the cover photo. There were several other suspicious elements in the cover photo: a three-layer hoop, unrealistically beautiful yarn, and what looked like felt as the base fabric. While I really could use a needlepoint handbook, I won’t be buying this one!
“And sure, not all uses of AI are dishonest.”
This is incorrect. ALL generative AI artwork and writing is built off of plagiarized artwork and literature. If you use it, you’re complicit in the theft of artwork. People like me, who’s published work has been stolen to train generative AI.
Not entirely true, I’m afraid. Generative text is not necessarily automatically “plagiarism.” There are technical qualifications for writing to be labeled as plagiarized. Not all AI-generated text falls under that umbrella, I’m afraid.
I’m pleased to hear you mention the uses made of AI. The fakery world of digital reproduction and promotion really bugs me as well. The artistry of embroidered beauty by real people, using real materials, expressing joy is top of my lists. jT