This week we will be adding a new rule about generative artificial intelligence in the subreddit. The new rule is as follows:
Rule 9. No AI content. The moderator team will deal with AI content as it is identified, and the decision of the mod team is final.
This is a subreddit intended for the human craft of sewing. Anything not made by humans is not allowed. Respect the time and effort that goes into mastering both sewing and other skills such as patternmaking, drawing, photography and writing. Sharing non-human-created content such as generative AI images, patterns, or text is not allowed. Users look to r/sewing to provide authentic answers from real people.
We've been moderating to this rule for several months as we worked out how to respond to the variety of ways genAI appears in the subreddit. Obviously the nature of AI is that it can be hard to tell what is authentic content and what is AI. We will engage with users who submit AI content to the subreddit to educate and inform first.
The r/sewing community has been great at reporting suspected AI content. As a community, we have become well aware of what disasters can result if AI is used to generate unworkable patterns, inaccurate information, or impossible to sew images. Thanks for your support and please, keep letting us know when you see a problem.
~The r/sewing Mod Team
Thank you. I don't like AI...at all.
I love this!! THANK YOU!!
One question: What if we see an AI image and actually make it, can we post the inspiration with our project?
thank you thank you thank you!!!
I'm so sick of the AI slop everywhere!
thank you, this is great.
Than you!!👏👏👏
Thank you so much for this!
HOORAY! Thank you, MODS!!
Thank you for taking a stand against AI. I appreciate that and am here for it!!!
Appreciate you mods!
Thank you
Thank you!!! Even though I rarely get to actually break out my sewing machine these days, this sub remains a favorite corner of the internet for reasons like this. Appreciate you, Mods!
Thank you!
Thank you for being actually good mods here ❤️ it's all too rare on reddit these days. Ai is the worst thing to happen to creators ever.
I say this though I use Ai, but not for creating things. It can be a super helpful tool but is so commonly abused against creators...
Yaaay!!
Thank you! (And can I just vent that I'm seeing an "advertise with AI!" ad in the middle of this thread??!! 🙄🙄🙄)
me too lol. fuck AI
Yeah I have an ad for meta AI Ray-Bans near the top of the thread for me
Hurrah!
Does this mean "how do I make this" posts with an AI image will be banned? because those are really annoying. Whether or not the OP knows the image is AI, those garments usually can't be re-created in real life.
We handle these posts on a case-by-case basis. Most often though we will inform OP that their inspiration is AI and ask them to find real life examples, and/or explain to them why sewing this isn't feasible. Education is always key here. But we need the help of the community to do so, by reporting (supposed) AI content.
I see some people are asking about finding similar patterns to AI generated content. I think (as someone whose personally been fooled by AI) what would be AWESOME is if someone were to make a post on HOW to recognize AI generated clothes, and if resources to hire to learn to pattern from images were pinned or put into the side bar (is the a side bar on new reddit? I still use old, so idk).
Then anyone who posts AI pattern request can be directed to both resources. Cuz it is HARD for me to differentiate sometimes, so I will 100% mess up and post thinking it’s real.
We have a post about how to recognize pattern mills that use AI to create images and sell bad patterns. It has been pinned at the top of the subreddit for two years, and the OP, ProneToLaughter, has updated it as needed. Since you use old Reddit, it's only visible to you if it is in the second pinned spot. That is where it resides most of the year, but it does get bumped down when we have holiday threads or moderator announcements like this one. It's also linked in the Weekly Sewing Questions pinned post which is always in the first pinned location. One reason we send new users asking about pattern searches to the weekly thread, in fact, is so they can find the resources located there including the post on how to identify bad patterns.
We direct users who find that they have used a bad pattern with AI images to the informative pinned thread, and counsel them on how to find better patterns. Our intent is to educate and inform users who post in good faith.
edited for grammar
I've tried to post the link to the post but Reddit is glitching, one more time:
Before You Buy That Etsy Pattern...Here's a Checklist
So grateful for this! I don't use AI for anything and it's so disheartening to see creative spaces overrun with AI slop.
Love it. Let's be patient with folks who can't recognize it as quickly, but I'm glad for this change.
Hi, it’s me… I’m the one who doesn’t recognize it.
There’s a BEAUTIFUL crochet hood I found on Pinterest that I have saved. The other day I went looking for the pattern and reverse image searched it for hours in a loop and came up with nothing that even looked similarly to it. My only conclusion is that it was AI.
So I moved on to a crocheted peacock shawl. Same damn thing.
How much of my Pinterest boards are AI?!? Good GRAVY!!!
There is a setting on Pinterest where you can turn off ai images in your feed for specific topics.
It's really hard! I struggle all the time. No judgement from me to you.
Sounds like you can recognize it though, just with some research. That is still figuring it out 🙂 we really all should be verifying information like this anyways, you're ahead of the pack
Thankfully Pinterest has placed "AI Modified" in the bottom left corner of those images and there's an option to see less of them if you click the 3 dots below the image too.
Nearly all of it these days unfortunately.
You can turn that off!
How??
To opt out having your data to train Pinterest Canvas. Settings > Privacy and Data > Check or uncheck box next to "use your data to train Pinterest Canvas" and click save.
To opt out of seeing AI, go to Settings > Refine your recommendations > GenAI Interestes and uncheck everything.
Thank you very much... the message I saw was that I will "start seeing FEWER GenAI posts" but at least that is something!
thank you so much for this!!
I had kind of a similar question. Where is the line and is there stuff that we will find is /actually/ AI generated but, when acting in good faith, wasn't clear would violate the rules?
I think the point of the new rule isn't to try to answer that question specifically and perfectly in every situation. It's to set the expectation about the desired guardrail of what should and what should not be in the sub.
As for "how much of any particular Pinterest board is AI generated" - I think the answer is "more than you think or want" and also "not as much as will be in 3, 6, 12 months" :(
If you post AI content in good faith, you will not get in trouble. You will be given resources and help to avoid AI in the future. This is consistent with our general moderation policy for the subreddit.
Thank you. AI is a step too far.
I don't sew but huge
I love seeing people write "if i can't submit AI art I'm no longer interested in being an artist"
lol, especially for a strictly physical medium, it's just so stupid.
Thank you so much for this! I’m so sick of AI ruining the internet.
Well done! Glad to hear it
Thank you :) I genuinely hate AI with a passion and it’s so nice to see artists embrace humanity.
Im sorry ai content was allowed in a handiwork sub??
I am a certified "leave the multibillion dollar company alone" AI bro and even I think allowing it in a sewing subreddit was ridiculous
AI cannot sew, so no Projects "sewn" by AI have ever been posted to the subreddit. Content written by AI has never been allowed either. But there have been humans with questions about AI generated inspiration pictures and AI generated sewing patterns. This new rule formalises how we deal with those. We have been modding like this ever since the first AI related content popped up in the subreddit. So no, AI has never been allowed in the subreddit in the way you are implying.
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It's like toothpaste but it doesn't clean your teeth lol we should stop using it, and we can.
Encouraging people to squeeze toothpaste onto the counter is dickish and nonsensical
Goated comment
Will there be exceptions to the rule? Such as "Hey, I found this obviously AI image, can anyone direct me to a legitimate pattern to achieve the same/similar garment?"
We handle these posts on a case-by-case basis. We often end up locking the post because the OP is overwhelmed with the AI discussion in the comments, or they delete the post and it is removed by Reddit. We aim to educate rather than keep any sort of review of pattern mills that use AI images because they pop up and leave so quickly, it becomes a game of whackamole. Educating newbies on how to find good patterns and avoid AI is better. There is an excellent guide by ProneToLaughter that is pinned at the top of the subreddit, we refer users to it often.
Thank you!
Bravo !!! thank you ! let's celebrate real craft and skills
Thank you! This is so much better than what the machine knitting sub did
Oh no, what did they do?
Decided they'll never ban AI because people need it and if you comment about your negative opinion on AI on a post you're a bully. There's a convoluted mod post about it in the sub, mixing up the issue of AI in art spaces with people bad at English, and saying people are bullying others and they need to be kind. A rather odd post
yes!!! more love to the creative minds 🫶
Thank you!!!
Excellent decision. Thank you.
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Or painting, or stained glass, or acting, or writing, or…
What’s wrong with Al writing and acting? I thought his movie was incredible and I love his parody work
Edit: guys it’s a Weird Al joke
Or anything…
I saw someone suggest that LLMs should be restricted to only augmenting, not replacing search engines - i.e. if you search for "the lumberjack looking guy with a beard in the gif where the camera zooms in and then he smiles and nods" it can do the work of figuring out you meant Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson (1972), then feed that information into the actual search engine and not try to make any guesses of its own which would probably result in it telling you that according to the internet it's actually Zach Galifianakis in the gif who unfortunately died of old age but is also alive and recommends you eat two to three rocks a day to stay healthy.
You’re fucking kidding me - that’s Robert Redford???
Edit: Google confirms. Omfg. He’s unrecognisable!
I recognized him… but I saw the show when it aired.
I mean I only very recently found out that wasn’t Zach Galafianakis and that wasn’t AIs fault that was all me
Thank you!
Good
Yes, please. Can't stand how much AI is invading the crafts
It pains me to see another subreddit ban Al. Like I get it but personally I don't see what Weird Al Yankovic did to deserve all this hate.
He took a big bite out of some dude’s jugular vein :(
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It's literally a misinformation / wrong information generation engine 😭
It's a joke about AL, not ai.
I don't think I get it. But I'm just your average uncultured engineer 😁
Did you read the comment at all?
the reply is probably a bot..
I'll take human-lack-of-reading-comprehension over bot in this case, as a bot would not have mistaken Al for AI
-_^
I didn't even know he was a sewist!
I love that for this community! Sewing is so inherently human and AI has no place here. The only mention of it that I support here is people posting warnings of how to recognize AI patterns
This is a fantastic move for protecting the genuine skill and artistry in our community.
How sad that it has come to this.
My thoughts exactly.
THANK YOU!! I wish some of the other subs I frequent would do the same- I am so tired of AI slop!
That’s a good rule, thank you!
great move
Thank you!!
All subs should do this.
Consider integrating Bot Bouncer into the mod workflow since reddit offers basically nothing in the way of AI detection.
Thank you mods, you do a great job here and that's why this is a great sub.
Yes! So sick of the 'how do I make this AI generated thing?' posts
Good. TBH, I usually cannot tell the difference, so it's great that others can and report it
What about people posting to ask if a pattern is AI or legit? Will that be banned under the rule since it's technically posting pictures of AI "work"?
We handle these posts on a case-by-case basis. We often end up locking the post because the OP is overwhelmed with the AI discussion in the comments, or they delete the post and it is removed by Reddit. We aim to educate rather than keep any sort of review of pattern mills that use AI images because they pop up and leave so quickly, it becomes a game of whackamole. Educating newbies on how to find good patterns and avoid AI is better. There is an excellent guide by ProneToLaughter that is pinned at the top of the subreddit, we refer users to it often.
Brilliant! Thank you, mods.
Fuckin clankers are sewing
They're not, that's kinda the problem, AI tricks people into thinking the patterns it makes can be sewn irl but they're actual nonsense;
iO
Thank you!!
THE CLANKERS ARE SEWING…?
AI is used to generate patterns which inevitably don’t work. So the inexperienced and unwary waste their money and time, and get put off because they think they are doing something wrong.
Normally I dislike blanket bans on AI but it totally makes sense here. Good on you all.
Thank you! I loathe how AI is trying to ruin crafts 😭
im not even a part of this sub,
...but W Mods 🙌
Thank you!!!
I would LOVE more content on how to identify AI patterns. It’s such a frustrating thing to have to sift through when looking for new, interesting patterns.
We have a pinned post that's a guide on how to identify AI generated sewing patterns versus human made patterns.
Oh perfect, thank you!
heck yeah!
I’m hoping this means no PROMOTING ai content right? Discussion about and warning folks of ai shops is still allowed?
We have a pinned post that's a guide on how to identify AI generated sewing patterns versus human made patterns. All posts that feature AI will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Thank you!
Thank you!!!
Thank you for taking this step!!
....aaaand I'm joining this sub.
applause
Thank you!!
Thank you guys so much! ♥️
The AIs are sewing now?!
Human-powered craft is the best kind! Now if we could only get Etsy to rid their site of AI sewing patterns….
Agreed - what has Etsy come to these days 😭 so far from their beginnings
A million years ago I worked at their corporate headquarters and it’s another world since I left
Wow I bet. Do you still make purchases from the website?
OMG, and Pinterest! Sweet Jesus!
Pinterest has a setting under Refine your recommendations -> GENAI interests and then you toggle everything. It's not perfect but it helps
Thank you! That made a HUGE difference!
Thank you so much! This has drastically improved my feed almost instantly. I had stopped using Pinterest for a while due to all the AI slop.
No problem 🙂 I think a lot of people stopped using it (myself included) and that's why they added the setting. It wasn't there to begin with.
Based decision, a lot of people have been getting tricked by AI patterns from what I hear. The slop machine claims another 💔
This make me so happy. Ai garbage belongs far away from art.
I agree with all of this. But as a visitor from r all, like what could an ai sewing post possibly be?
There are also sewing patterns (and crochet patterns, and knitting patterns, and recipes, etc) being generated by AI and sold to inexperienced people who don't know how to tell the difference. They are always incorrect and make some truly wonky items.
A few friends have sent me pictures of ai knitting asking if I could make it.
I politely point out the problems with it and give them tips on identifying ai.
Ai has flooded etsys cross stitch patterns too. Many have given up entirely on Etsy for AI patterns. It was bad enough with stolen art manually put through pattern makers.
Yeah, I bought an embroidery kit off Amazon that was clearly stolen and put through an AI pattern maker. These are especially insidious because the picture of the finished piece is real, so you have to work on it for awhile before you figure out what the problem is with the pattern. In this case the colors looked plausible when you first start, but as you start laying then down next to each other on the canvas, you start to see that they don't make sense together as a group. Also realized part way through that the canvas should have been black instead of white.
Still had some fun, but if I ever finish it I'll have to go rebuy the embroidery floss.
Posts that include AI generated outfits asking for pattern recommendations for one.
Just because of this rule I added you guys.
I do sew, just did not know this sub.
Exactly. AI is not my way. Thank you! I just joined because of this commitment.
Idk why this popped up in my feed. I don't think I've been here before, but thank you. This is the only call, but it's not always a popular one. So thank you
That's the right call
subbed.. cant stand the AI posts anymore. Good luck identifying them..Sounds like a chore..
Nice I joined!
Thank you for taking a stand on this. It's hugely important
Huge sewing W
Nice, I love it
just popping in to say i love you mods
YESSSSSSSSSS
Whoo. Thank you! 🙂
I didn’t know there was AI content in this sub.
is it because the mods have been catching it and stopping it on time?
thank you!!
The common man has no idea the trash mods have to sort through
‘Tis the seam ripping of Reddit
Thank you sew 🪡 much!!!
Yay! I hate AI
Thank you!
How about in life?
That would be grand. I'm tired of having to guess whether or not I'm being deceived for fake internet points. I use social media to connect with other people, not with the idea of a person. When we get to R2D2 levels of intelligence, ask me again.
Friend occasionally sends me feel-good animal stories. Some are tricky to identify unless you deeply understand animal behaviour though.
Urgh. And the, "I don't care if it's real, it made me happy!" folks feed right into it. I have a handful of mutuals who use ChatGPT a lot and it really grinds my gears.
Yay, thank you!!!
what even is AI content in this context?
Specific to sewing, that would be AI images for sewing patterns that don't work or are stolen and sold by pattern mills; ChatGPT used to regurgitate bad sewing advice; AI images that are impossible to reproduce in real life and mislead new sewists; and posts full of error-ridden 'history' and 'background' for a particular design are the examples we've seen most often.
tf is wrong with people..,
As it should be. Literally cannot be sewing if it is AI. Thank you.
YAY! I hate AI!
about time
Thank you so much!!!
Thank you!
Thank you!!
This is the first craft subreddit I've seen do this! THANK YOU.
Thank you!! 🎉🎉
Thank you! This is so appreciated.
I'm not not in this sub, but yay!
Thank you guys! Keeps the integrity of the community
So glad to see this. I came across a bag designer that makes real patterns, but then uses AI to model them. I hate it all
Good
Can this be pinned to the front page of reddit?
You realize that literally every single word you type on Reddit is used to train modern LLMs, right?
I'm talking about AI creating design work, not teaching it to speak.
I'm saying that, by taking part in Reddit, you are supporting AI.
Reddit where they sold you all out to train AI?
Yeah, I'm seriously hoping this catches on. Absolutely crazy though that the integrity of these communities hinges on hours and hours of free human labor, though. Thank you, mods!!
Just for clarification do I understand correctly that "is this AI" and/or "I made this based off an AI generated image I saw" type posts are still allowed?
Glad to hear this regardless
Posts asking if a photo or pattern is AI may or may not be removed, we decide this on a case by case basis. Sometimes we lock the post if the OP gets overwhelmed, or the OP will delete and Reddit removes the post. We will treat Project posts in the same way, evaluating each post. Our goal is always to educate and inform the OP whether their post remains or not.