Hired a human artist to redo what AI gave me for free, was it worth it?

I run a small Etsy shop selling custom pet portraits, and last month I had three orders pile up at once. I used an AI generator to make rough drafts for each one, thinking it would save me time. The results looked okay at first glance, but something felt off. The fur textures came out weird and one dog had three ears that I had to Photoshop out. I ended up hiring a local artist in Portland to redo all three by hand, and she charged me $45 per portrait. The customers were happy with the final results, but I spent more money and waited extra days compared to just using AI. Now I'm stuck deciding if I should offer both options to buyers or just stick with human work entirely. Has anyone else tried mixing AI drafts with human finishing touches, and did your customers care about the difference?

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1 Comment

charles_baker284h ago

Ain't it funny how we always trust the finished product more when we know a person struggled with it, even if the pixels look identical? lol that extra $135 basically bought your customers peace of mind, and honestly that might be the real product you're selling.