The Copycat Culture and Anti-Art Initiatives of DDG

It's been approximately 10 weeks now since I returned to the Deep Dream Generator in a full time capacity for my creative needs with AI. For the most part it's been a positive eXperience. The tools at the site are GREAT and I feel that some of my best pieces have been created during this time period. My designs come out crisp and clear, (when I want them to be), and I feel that my 'style' still remains, even though I'm using a new platform, (once again).

But even with my delight and giddiness with the tools and creative process at DDG, I am reminded again and again of why I left the site to begin with. The MANY THINGS that irritated me back in the day, to the point of finding a new place to create at, are ALL still there, and instead of fiXing them, DDG has glorified them. It's lead to dozens, if not hundreds of people leaving the website to find another place to create at, just like I did about a year and a half ago, and it's still continuing to this day. Just yesterday I heard another one of the better artists at the site tell me that they are planning to leave DDG because of it.

For the life of me I can't figure out why the DDG gods refuse to fiX it. If anyone is aware of how many artists have left Deep Dreams, it's THEM. Yet every day it seems another great artist leaves the website to go elsewhere, taking their money with them to give to one of DDG's competitors. It just doesn't make sense to me.

The Copycat Culture:

It all started way back when, when the Deep Dream Generator first introduced their 'teXt to dream' images. I was there for this monumental change of being able to write a prompt and get an image from it, and I guess was one of the 'pioneers'. Of course the images back then were very crude compared to today's, and LOTS of deformities were the norm. Myself, and many many others at the site were just learning how to write prompts back then, so when someone came up with a good prompt that actually made a good image, many others would copy that prompt and create their own image from it. It was the norm back then to do so. Creative people would usually add to the prompt they copied from someone else, evolving it and often improving upon it, then folks would copy that prompt and do the same again. It was fun.

But then some people started just using other's prompts and wouldn't give credit for them where it was due. They would often get a lot of likes for their designs and would then take all the credit for the written prompt. Other people would then copy the prompt from these people, leaving the original authors of the prompt justifiably miffed at the whole ordeal. This got even worse, as then the people who copied the prompts from the other people who copied the prompts would give credit for the prompt to the wrong person, which was seldom if ever corrected.

Back then, many of my own original prompts would go 'viral' at DDG and I would see them being used over and over again for WEEKS afterward with not even a mention of me, the person who wrote them. Of course this was irritating, but as I mentioned above, it was the norm back in those days to nab other folk's prompts and use them, and it wasn't just happening to me, it was happening to anyone that wrote original prompts. There was no way to actually hide your prompt in those days, so if you wanted to publish your images publicly, you had to share your prompt and go through the process of irritation associated with doing so. This alone caused many people to stop publishing their images publicly, or to leave the site altogether.

This is the time that the DDG gods should have offered the creators an option to keep their prompts private. It was an opportunity to keep ALL of the community happy at the time, but it is now an opportunity that has been lost in time.

As the site evolved, and the artists and their prompts evolved along with it, the images began to come out great! They were so great, in fact, that the website began to attract thieves who would steal the images from DDG and post them all over the internet for sale. By the time the community became aware of this, there were hundreds upon hundreds of our images all over the place! If you were there at the time, you'll remember how devastating this was to the artists involved, and the stain it left on the site.

For many people the combination of stolen prompts and stolen artwork were just too much to take. Dozens of people stopped publishing their work publicly or left the site altogether. I joined MANY other people in removing all my public worX from my gallery, protecting them from being stolen and protecting my written prompts, which I felt had been 'abused' by this time. It was a tough time at the site, and the first really big eXodus of artists and their artwork, with a noticeable decline of activity there.

Of course most of us remained through it though, as we loved the site and community and we loved creating images with AI. Also, back then, DDG had a wonderful 'popularity algorithm' which was mysterious and addictive. For me, half the fun publishing images there was trying to figure out how that algorithm ranked them and pushed them to the top. Yet another thing at the site we have lost to time.

Then DDG thought it would be a good idea to introduce a "TRY IT" button, which has now become just a "TRY" button. I have nothing against this, eXcept they STILL did not offer an option to publish publicly AND hide our prompts. DDG's insistence that our written prompts be eXposed to the masses have proven to be a huge turn-off for many people, myself included, and is another reason people have left in droves, or no longer publish publicly. There is a real 'art' in writing prompts, and some people just don't want to give away all their hard learned 'secrets' to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes along and pushes a button! It is wrong to dictate to creators how their personal work is shared.

Of course now there are some work-arounds at the site that allow us to publish without our prompts, but you have to work at getting there and it's going to cost you eXtra energy points to do it. Anyway, at least it eXists.

But the real kick to the chops is that DDG changed the popularity algorithm to penalize folks like me that don't publish prompts while continuing to penalize EVERYONE that don't play their LIKE game. Forget about your artwork ever getting to number one if you don't play the game, and REALLY forget about it if your artwork doesn't get TRY clicks! THIS is the number one reason people leave DDG to go to their competitors, and THIS is the reason we continue to see the website die in popularity almost on a daily basis. It's both sickening and heart breaking to watch, especially for people like me that LOVE the site and its capabilities.

The Anti-Art Initiatives:

The popularity algorithm has always pushed artwork upwards with the amount of likes the artwork gets. It's not JUST the likes though, there are other things involved. If a creator wants their artwork to 'trend', and possibly trend to the top, they are FORCED to spend a LOT of time playing the LIKE game. We're given 500 likes in a 24 hour period, which we MUST use in order to get our own artwork liked in return. It's a trading system where we like other people's artwork in hopes they will return the favor. Eventually, you build a network of LIKE minded people, and your artwork becomes ever more popular as time passes and you find more artists to trade with. Sounds good, right?

WRONG! The system instantly penalizes new users and their artwork, NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT MIGHT BE, and their art will never ever get to the top of the charts! If they don't know how the system worX, they'll be lucky to get 15 likes on their artwork, as it's not going to be seen by many people. It's unwelcoming to new users and an instant turn-off to them. It also shows them that the site isn't about artwork at all, it's about networking and how long people have been there to build on their personal popularity and their knowledge of the algorithm. It also often results with REALLY GOOD ARTWORK being IGNORED.

Now that there is a TRY button, the popularity algorithm has been adjusted to also propel images that get TRY clicks. At first glance this would seem to make sense, the best and most popular pieces will be the ones that get TRY clicks, so let's get them to the top so people can see them. Sounds good, right?

WRONG! Introducing this new concept to the algorithm has been a disaster. Artists were already FORCED to play the LIKE game and trade likes with each other, so naturally they were going to start trading TRY clicks with each other as well. The combination of 'artificial' LIKEs and 'artificial' TRYs has now resulted in seeing the same artists trend to the top at DDG over and over again, REGARDLESS OF HOW GOOD THE ARTWORK IS. It is repetitive and boring, and yes, it is irritating.

The Deep Dream Generator, once a website about artwork, has now become a website about a popularity algorithm, and NOT a very good one at that! If you don't play the LIKE and TRY game, you are heavily penalized and have no chance to trend to the top. Even if you DO play the LIKE and TRY game and you're a newer person to the site, you are heavily penalized and have no chance to trend to the top.

NO WONDER PEOPLE HAVE LEFT THE SITE IN DROVES AND CONTINUE TO DO SO. NO WONDER MANY NEW USERS DON'T STAY.

I am baffled that this has gone on for so long. Surely DDG is aware of all this, right? Wouldn't a business WANT their users to stick around for the long run? Wouldn't a business want to be welcoming to newcomers so they'll stick around also? Shouldn't a website that creates images be focused on the ARTWORK instead of on the people who have networked and played the silly time consuming games? They MUST be aware of how many people have left and are leaving. It boggles the mind!

The Deep Dream Generator has become an AI image creating GAME, and not one that everyone is invited to. It rewards its good 'players' with eXposure of their often 'less than stellar' images getting into the top positions, while penalizing others by dropping their images onto unlooked at pages where they'll get no LIKEs or TRYs. Great artwork, which SHOULD be rewarded gets overlooked and under appreciated. It's a broken system that is long overdue for a complete overhaul.

It's also anti-art! Any system that isn't propelling the 'good stuff' to the top, well, that's just not a place that focuses on artwork at all. How many more GREAT ARTISTS have to leave the site before they'll finally do something? I think the developers at DDG have a serious issue with admitting failure, so maybe they will never fiX it at all. What a shame it is to watch DDG continuously lose ground and money to their competitors.

DDG really needs to figure out WHAT they actually are. Are they an AI ART site, or are they an AI image creating GAME? I know they want it both ways, but apparently, as it is today, it's not working out very well for them and the the majority of us that are all involved in it.

Just my thoughts, for what they are worth, (which I know is not a lot!).

"X"

March 2nd, 2025