What would you look like as an action figure?
It’s a question the latest AI slop trend — AI action figures — has attempted to answer. Viral submissions have flooded social media platforms, with everyone from average people to celebrities to multi-million-dollar companies posting cartoon versions of what they (or their social media editor) would look like as an action figure. These generated photos are usually complete with personalized accessories that represent their interests. If the images, and people’s gleeful participation, seems reminiscent of the recent Studio Ghibli trend, it’s because they’re courtesy of the same product: OpenAI’s text-to-image GPT‑4o model.
Making stupid internet fodder has never been easier than now, with the prevalence of AI image generators making everything from deepfakes to memes. (There’s even a market for people who explain step by step how to get the desired results of any given trend.) But in the artist world, the rise of AI presents more problems than just the documented environmental concerns. AI images are already easily accessible. But if they become the defacto answer to any trend, could broad wins for AI mean loss after loss for working illustrators?
For at least one creator, supporting real art was more important than being first. Trixie Cosmetics, the makeup brand from drag queen Trixie Mattel, said they were purposefully late to the trend so they could have an illustrator make it instead of using AI. “Love this so much more than anything AI could have made,” wrote YouTuber Tyler Oakley on X. “Keeping up with the trends, promoting her makeup, and saying no to ai,” wrote another X user. “Trixie is that bitch and I [will] always love her for it.” But as AI develops, is there a way for real artists to still stand out in the market?
Graphic designer Joey Donatelli is the illustrator behind the Trixie Cosmetic action figure. Donatelli, who uses they/them pronouns, says they’ve always thought of their art style as “toy doll, whimsical meets high end cunty diva vibes,” which made them a perfect fit for the trend. But they say people responded so excitedly to their illustrated version because they think more average internet users are learning about the dangers AI can bring.
“I want people to actually create, not use a machine to create for them,” Donatelli tells Rolling Stone. “Working with AI is not being engaged with creativity. It’s typing a prompt into a screen. And that’s nothing to be proud of.”
Emily T., a recent illustration graduate from Sheridan College in Ontario, has spent her entire artistic career doing everything from narrative illustration to surface design to tattoo design. But she chose to not only make her own version of the action trend but post a video detailing her process — all in an effort to push back against what she sees as a “deeply troubling” acceptance of AI use.
“I wish people would consider the thought and care artists put into all their work,” Emily says. “Artists put their all into their work — personality, years of practicing. It’s meant to be enjoyed while being produced. AI completely eliminates all these possibilities, sucking the humanity out of art altogether. Any art is better than AI slop.”
There’s a long relationship between the internet and artistic expression. Early sites like pixiv, Deviantart, and Tumblr built their reputations in fandom spaces by hosting large communities of young artists who drew interpretations and stylistic takes on their favorite television shows, movies, books, and comics. Fanarts or styles often inspired other works, feeding off of each other and inspiring others to post their own takes on every piece of entertainment under the sun. That’s why Valeria Herrera, a 29-year-old illustrator, understands some of the appeal of AI for people who might not actually draw for a living. It’s just not enough to make her use it.
“People are using AI, whether it’s for their small business or participating in the action figure trend, to be creative,” Herrera says. “People want to be involved in the art they create. They like personalized work. They just don’t want to take the time to do it themselves.”
“AI use is obviously very prevalent. People are using it out the wazoo,” Donatelli adds. “But as people become more aware of the ramifications of AI, they’re starting to seek out artists instead.”
One of the biggest issues artists take with these types of image generators — which industries like publishing, music, and filmmaking also foresee — is the nebulous nature of their source. Many AI models don’t give users public access to their training materials, meaning models could have learned and improved off of a variety of original artwork and projects. It brings up issues about copyright, fairness, and compensation — problems most tech companies seem to be sidestepping at the moment.
“AI steals from artists and spits out work without taking into account the many elements illustrators have studied and worked on for years,” Emily says. “It ‘learns’ off of us but does not give back to our community.”
“People use AI to create these images because they feel like they can’t create art without the means of AI. But that’s a skill issue,” Donatelli says. “If you’re more concerned with the end product, rather than the process, then maybe you shouldn’t be making it at all.”
#Illustrators #People
