I use Facebook to keep up with local events, and something I've noticed recently is that almost every event poster has been created using AI. I didn't realise it at first, but once you spot one you can't miss it. Now I notice AI posters all over the place - as well as social media they are all over the local noticeboards and this year the school has begun using AI for event flyers.
Many people hate these AI generated posters. Personally what I dislike most is that they are stuffed with unnecessary information - I saw one for a local Pokemon Go meet up group that had the name of the town on it five times. Sometimes it's difficult to find key information like date, time and location.
The posters also often have the same layout and similar graphics, which is particularly noticeable when you see two or three displayed together. Additionally they can be very misleading, with inaccurate images and depictions of activities. Who can forget the disastrous marketing for the Willy Wonka Experience!
However even though I'm not really a fan, I can fully understand why people are using them.
I volunteer with a local community group, and like many other small organisations we aren't going to be using our donated funds to pay for a graphic designer. Also, to people who haven't grown up with the internet (and who are often the ones that take the time to organise community events) AI technology really is very impressive.
I gave ChatGPT some minimal details for a potential upcoming event for our organisation, and this was the poster that it produced for me:
My children may scoff, but I can understand why most people would be impressed. The poster took literal seconds to produce, it's bright, colourful and it contains all the key information. It is unoriginal, especially amongst a sea of AI posters, and some of the details are a little sketchy on close inspection. But it does the job and most people would be very happy with it.
I don't think that many people even realise that these posters are made with AI, and those that do really aren't bothered. I wonder whether their use will decline once the initial excitement wears off, or whether the AI will evolve and it will no longer be as noticeable.
I do think I like my second version of the poster better, can you spot the subtle changes?!
