The Coming of "AI Fast Fashion" in Second Life -- and the Danger of Not Addressing It Now (Comment of the Week)

Max at his mainstore/sim, Rustica [direct teleport here]

Last week's post on how AI-based image-to-3D mesh conversion will impact virtual world economies dependent on mesh content has inspired quite a lot of conversation across Second Life social media. Indie creator Tim Hannan demonstrated how it's now relatively easy to generate an SL-based shoe from a real world photo; while the results are rudimentary, the quality will quickly improve.

Maxwell Graf, a longtime 3D creator/merchant in Second Life and many other platforms, argues that we must decide now how to co-exist and regulate AI-based content in the virtual world. Read his argument (originally posted here) below. 

[Gen AI programs] will chip away at the market until there is no viable reason or alternative for creators to continue doing completely original work and being able to make any amount of profit from it to justify the effort, unless profit is not the desired result or customers are willing to pay a premium for items they trust are being created without it. At some point, AI will dominate the economy of available goods in the marketplace, simply because it makes it easier to make money.

The SL creator economy is already a predominant aspect of why SL continues to exist at the size and concurrency it does. Roleplay environments, entertainment, hobbies, live/DJ music venues and even just hanging out with friends has diminished considerably over the years and the creators making stuff is the main pillar supporting it now.

However, even that has changed over time, in types of content, point of purchase/marketing methods, pricing and product usage; the market is dominated by avatar bodies, fashion and accessories, mostly presented at events, purchased mostly from Marketplace and considered largely disposable (wear it once and put it away, etc.) Not always, but I am considering the primary market. Even furniture, home and garden items are rarely used for the amount of time they used to be before being changed to something else.

Add to all of these factors the expansion of the number of creators/brands available, vastly increased from even a decade ago. ALL of these factors contribute to dividing up the limited economic pie of sales into smaller and smaller slices, at a time when the plethora of events and competition drives the pricing of items down and down, limiting return unless volume is increased.

THAT nexus brings us to AI and how it is arriving at exactly the moment when that volume economy is dominating the marketplace:

The inevitable coming of AI-based content to the Second Life economy

More and more, AI will begin to creep into the marketplace, whether we like it or not, simply because A) the constant demand is there and B) the volume is necessary to continue profiting as prices drop.

The inclusion of AI, for the reasons Tim gave that I listed up top of my response, will cause prices to drop even further, as the availability and time to market for mesh items and wearables is reduced and people accept the inevitability of "AI fast fashion" as part of the landscape in SL. It is already happening, not just in marketing materials and imagery, but in marketed items. It is here, now. Going forward it will only become better quality and less distinguishable from original works and eventually surpass the quality of many brands.

The questions then become: How will users respond to it? How much will they be willing to pay for it if they do accept it? How will those creators who refuse to utilize it maintain and eventually compete along side AI? Certainly there will continue to be a demand for non-AI original works, but how long will it take until you can't tell anymore and just accept the creators word that no AI was used in any aspect of the production of that item you purchase? Will it cease to matter?

We need to all be asking ourselves, our favorite creators and the Lab these questions in preparation for how we all handle the coming changes to the 3D world we so lovingly have supported for so long, because it IS inevitable that AI is here already and will continue to be integrated into the process of living and consuming inside all virtual spaces. To what degree and to what effect is what we must learn.

I am familiar with AI, have explored a lot of it and will continue to follow its development, as we all should. I, like many creators, do not want or plan to use AI in anything I produce for sale, though I have extremely limited sales or production for the last several years, for a variety of reasons.

I like to think that the success of Rustica over so many years has been that for whatever reason I am able to produce items which exhibit some characteristic which makes them identifiable as my work, that my stuff has a "look," that, while not ever the best quality or following trend, people can recognize as something I made. That is, to me, the greatest reward I get from SL, I have never been one of the trendy stores or a big seller. But I have persisted, and I like to think it has something to do with that aspect of my work. I don't think that is something I can get from AI, no matter how I prompt it.

I hope that AI does not damage Second Life. I see what it is already doing to a lot of writers, artists, coders and game developers/designers outside of SL and I have the same concerns most of us do. I think the best way to move forward is to decide how we continue to exist in online spaces alongside AI, because it is NOT going away.

It is here, now.

Agree, disagree? I'm contacting Linden Lab on this topic soon; what questions/points should I raise with them?

Comments

[Maxwell Graf]

My main worry is that people react to my comments as being "Pro AI in SL marketplace" because I'm not. A lot of people fucking hate AI and I've spoken out on a lot of platforms the reasons I don't intend to sell with it.

A lot of designers I've spoken with over the last few years are going to continue on doing what they do without AI, which is awesome and shows character and principle. As someone once said, "You can't eat principles," which is right; if you own a business you have to compete and SL is very competitive and its going to get harder as people adopt AI as a way to speed up the revenue stream.

Somebody else said, "You can't eat principles, but you can live by them," which better highlights the choice in front of us. If you are in this to compete and make a living or your brand is caught up in the event grind, principles may not continue to supply what you need to survive, but if, like me, you are really only making a few items here and there to satisfy your artistic cravings going forward, then maybe you can live without AI and without sales being a primary goal of what you do. I've had some medical issues that changed what I do and how much time and effort I can spend on Rustica as a business. I don't miss the stress and I found a lot of reasons to enjoy SL again and create for me, not to pay my mortgage.

[David]

Items made with AI or not does not change anything. I just hope the price will goes down because all items are too expensives in SL I mean good quality items. Many items has holes.

[Maxbad Gruff]

what a yawn fest of old men shouting at clouds. The only thing Maxwell is an expert in is the sound of his own voice.