Shad M. Brooks "AI Art Supposedly Takes No Effort" / Girl Beheading Dragon Controversy

Overview

The Shad M. Brooks "AI Art Supposedly Takes No Effort" Controversy or the Girl Beheading Dragon AI Art Controversy refers to online backlash inspired by a post from writer Shad M. Brooks in which he shares an AI generated image of a Japanese school girl cutting a dragon's head off with a katana and refutes the claims that AI art takes no effort, writing that the piece was "the most challenging" he's ever done. The post inspired criticism of the artwork and inspired artists to draw their own versions of the artwork and rally against AI-generated art in general.

Background

On November 11th, 2023, X^[1] user and author @shadmbrooks posted a piece of AI-assisted artwork (shown below) that he created depicting a girl in a Japanese schoolgirl outfit cutting the head off a dragon with a sword. In the post text, he writes, "Remember everyone, Ai art supposedly takes no effort, skill and always looks trash, lol. Such nonsense," then explains that this was the "most challenging" piece of art he'd ever done, writing that he chose "one of the most difficult images" he could think of to generate. The post gained over 1,400 likes, 4,100 comments and 4,100 reposts in three days.

Remember everyone, Ai art supposedly takes no effort, skill and always looks trash, lol. Such nonsense.
This new artwork was the most challenging I’ve done by a LOT. Combining every difficult element from my previous images and then pushing it even farther, purposefully choosing one of the most difficult images I could think of to make with AI tools.

Indeed I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to make, and the criticism that you can't depict your artistic vision with Ai art is a pathetic lie as proven by this new image.
My goal was to make an action scene with an even more complex pose that contained physical contortion and exertion in the body. I wanted to show the character performing a mighty attack with all their effort, conveying speed and motion, an even more intense facial expression, and then placing it within a scene interacting with an enemy that she had just attacked.

It. Was. Not. Easy.

But I’m very happy with the results.
Now, I’m not saying this image is flawless, not at all, indeed I think if a more talented artist knew how to use AI tools they could make a far better AI image than me, because that’s the key, making the best and most complex and specific Ai art requires artistic ability.

So, my next projects will be to test new themes, specifically;
-Subtlety
-Combat with another sword wielding opponent

I’m looking forward to the challenge

Later that day, Brooks added another post to the X^[2] thread elaborating further on what made generating the image difficult, sharing a base model for the drawing (shown below) that he fed the AI to base the final product off it and writing:

The tricky thing with this artwork was combining all the elements.
The girl was made from a drawing I made specifically for this image which I then converted and enhanced with Ai tools, taking time and rounds of edits, combining it with the dragon and background that I also made with Ai. I then needing to blend them all together manually, blurring the foreground and background, adding the blood, and so on, and this is where I'm limited by my current skill. A better artist could get better results, but it's practice like this that will help me improve, which is funny because critics say you won't ever increase any artistic skills using AI tools which is nonsense, as I'm experiencing the opposite.

Online Reactions

The post and artwork became the subject of criticism as they went viral. Some shared the opinion that the artwork was not notably impressive and unrealistic in some aspects, with some claiming it looks like she's being "dragged" by the sword. On November 11th, 2023, Justin Whang quote-reposted the art on X,^[3] writing, "This looks like ass even compared to other ai art," garnering over 20,000 likes in three days. On November 12th, X^[4] user @AizelKonArt posted their own interpretation of the art made without AI, garnering over 59,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Cool, dude. Bdw here is an overpaint from the artist with ADHD debuff and low proficiency with dynamic compositions. But who has some basic knowledge of art rules, 2 hours of free time, pirated Photoshop, and the freedom to create art without restrictions of AI software.

On the same day, X^[5][6] users @LindaLithen and @BigDumSirk posted renditions of the artwork along with captions criticizing the use of AI in art, garnering over 37,000 likes and 29,000 likes, respectively, in two days (shown below, left and right). That day, X^[7] user @DABLACKCAT2000 posted, "Stop embarrassing yourself, man. and stop claiming ai 'art' takes effort, all you do type a bunch of words & get a 'How to Draw Manga' type anatomy."

On November 13th, X^[8] user @otagoth posted a rendition of the art, writing, "Denying yourself the opportunity to grow and understand art is sad. I feel like the Dunning Kruger effect is heavy when it comes to AI art. The reason why art is difficult is it shows us your flaws, your short comings and your humanity," garnering over 5,800 likes in a day.

That day, X^[9] user @taikolum posted a manga-style version of the artwork, garnering over 1,500 likes in a day (shown below).

If you spend half the time you spend writing essays about how you are a "real" artist on actually making art you'll be a master already, you suck.

Artwork Examples

Search Interest

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