Tried to make a quick logo for my shop with an AI tool last Tuesday...

I typed in 'simple wrench with clean lines' and it gave me something that looked exactly like the logo from a garage two towns over. It felt wrong, like I was taking something that wasn't mine, even if the AI just mixed things up. How do you draw a line between getting an idea and copying someone's work without meaning to?

4 comments

4 Comments

rowan_barnes1d ago

That gut feeling you and @david_reed22's friend had is probably the best guide. These tools are just recycling what they've seen, so the final check has to be a human one. If it feels too close, it's better to start over.

david_reed222d ago

Ever have that weird feeling you've seen something before? My buddy tried to design a label for his hot sauce and the online maker gave him a rooster that was a dead ringer for a big brand's logo. He scrapped it right away because it felt stolen, even by accident. I guess the line is if you look at it and your gut says "that's theirs," it probably is. Those tools just mush stuff together, so you gotta be the one to check if it's too close. He ended up drawing a simple pepper himself, way more work but it felt right.

carr.abby1d ago

Yeah, and it's not even really mixing things up like @rowan_barnes said. It's just copying bits directly. That's why the results feel so familiar and wrong. You have to be the filter.

felixlane1d ago

Actually, I think they ARE mixing things up, just in a really shallow way. It's like a bad collage of stolen parts, not a new idea. That's why the gut check is so important.