My local comic con's artist alley looked totally different this year

I went to the Portland Comic Con in 2022 and again this past weekend. In 2022, almost every table in the artist alley was a person selling prints they'd drawn. This year, I'd say a solid third of the tables were just selling AI-generated prints of superheroes and anime characters. You could tell because the hands were weird and the styles were all over the place. I talked to one artist who said her sales were down about 40% because people just buy the cheaper AI stuff now. It made me realize this isn't some far-off future problem, it's hitting working artists right now. Has anyone else seen this shift at their local conventions?

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4 Comments

alice4576mo ago

That's a depressing shift to see firsthand.

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grace_wells986mo ago

The old hardware store on Main Street just put up another "for lease" sign. What kind of shift are you talking about, @alice457? I'm seeing a lot of empty storefronts where real businesses used to be. Feels like everything's moving to some warehouse you never see. Makes the whole town feel quieter, and not in a good way.

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lee186mo ago

I get what you mean, but I like the quiet.

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charles8364mo ago

My local grocery store has half the checkout lanes closed now because they replaced the cashiers with those self-scan kiosks. It's the same story everywhere, technology is quietly squeezing out the people who used to do those jobs for a living.

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