25/07/2026
What's everyone's take on AI image generation for tasks like YouTube thumbnails?
Here's a very true tale of struggle from a small little nothing-burger of a creator...
Thumbnails have always been a struggle for me. I am NOT particularly artistically talented. I have a hard time bringing my ideas for Thumbnails to life. This was discouraging enough, and yet things could only become more and more bleak as I found the creative landscape evolving around me... I was no longer just a small fish in a large pond. I was a small fish in a large pond full of bloodthirsty robotic AI superfish that never need to rest, who think at speeds I can never dream of, who are heartless and merciless and have no goals aside from total domination.
AI content is taking over everything, and it sucks. As a small creator who genuinely has major issues with AI I have tried so hard to avoid it. I can understand using it for certain things, like if you want a photo of a heart shaped rock, but you don't have any heart shaped rocks to take a photo of, can't find a free to use photo of a heart shaped rock, and can't afford to buy a license to a copyrighted photo of a heart shaped rock... then I can see jumping into whatever AI program and asking for a photo of a heart shaped rock. That's not something you ALWAYS have to deal with and you're not having AI write and create the content for you, it's just like a stock photo to use in a greater piece of content, I get that. The problem is there are now whole creators out there whose entire channel, page, profile, whatever is 100% AI generated, from the concept to the characters to the content, and it can put out content thousands of times a week if it's told to do so, and it's only becoming more and more convincing.
I hate this. I see these AI channels explode and start reeling in cash for lazy "creators" who just want a quick buck and an easy life. Then I see myself struggling to stay motivated, struggling to keep a schedule, struggling to have ideas, struggling to be... creative. It feels like something that was already astronomical in scope and difficulty has become even more difficult to succeed at. The odds of having a successful career in content creation were already slim when the competition was just other people, doing people stuff with people struggles and people limitations. Now... if you want to be you, want to do your own work, or even hire other real humans to help, it still feels as though you will be buried under a mountain of AI slop. It made me want to give up. It made me want to give in.
I continued to do a stream here and there, put out a video every once in a great while, and while I knew that this hands off approach was not going to send me rocketing to stardom, it still bothered me that everything has become just so abysmal for us human creators. Though I knew that my own absence would hold me back more than AI competition ever would, I still couldn't help but want to share the blame. Yeah, sure, I'm not the greatest YouTuber of all time, but it wouldn't matter now anyway because the AI will always outwork me, no matter what.
I gave in. I took my thumbnail idea and I punched it into Google Gemini in text form, asking it to turn my thoughts into art. I showed it an image of my avatar and asked it to put him in certain places, dress him in certain ways. I had a thumbnail for a Pokémon stream which showed MY character, the guy I dreamt up and drew by hand and made the first draft of and saved up for a professional artist to make him into what I always envisioned him to be, but instead of just the same badge shaped logo... he was dressed up like Ash Ketchum. He had a Pokéball in his hand and was in a fierce stance as if about to throw it into battle and summon his most faithful companion. I had a thumbnail for a Legend of Zelda stream with MY GUY dressed up as Link, holding the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield, and the terrifying face of the moon staring down upon him. I thought they looked really cool, and I would say objectively that they did. I was getting excited to stream again. I put my nose back to the grindstone.
The streams that followed were tepid at best. I had viewership, some anyway, and I gained a few subscribers. It wasn't more than I was getting when I had the original burst of enthusiasm and excitement, the way it was back before the dark black cloud of AI had settled in, but it was some and it was okay. I still felt guilt and shame that I had essentially cheated to get these great looking thumbnails. I figured it'd be okay though because if I ever get where I can be paid to create then I will hire an artist to help with those elements in which I struggle. I may not ever be a phenomenal artist but maybe one day I could afford one. These thoughts sounded good out loud but they didn't make me feel any better inside.
After many lukewarm Pokémon Crystal streams I moved on to a game that I figured would bring the masses. I started streaming The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I had never experienced this classic before but figured someone experiencing it for their first time live for the world to see just might be an attractive enough concept to bring in some new viewers. The first few streams were more of the same. A handful of viewers including my usuals, who I appreciate immensely and who know my struggles, who would tune in every stream no matter what. I gained a few extra sets of eyes over the first few streams but nothing that's going to turn a guy into Mr. Beast or anything.
Finally, the other day, I was streaming Majora's Mask and I suddenly started getting more and more viewers! I held my excitement though because I didn't want to end up letting myself down if it just stopped and went away. I was right to worry. The viewers were dropping off just as fast as they were rolling in. Eventually one guy dropped a bomb in my chat. He said that it's a shame to see a lazy AI thumbnail and that it drives him away from creators when he notices them. Of course my faithful regulars flew into him and rushed to my defense, but I thought I could be mature, explain my situation, my lack of artistic ability and funds for outsourcing, and my plans to correct it in the future if given the opportunity. He told me this was a pathetic excuse and that he would rather see a crap thumbnail made by a real creator than a perfect AI generated one any day. Troll. I tried not to let him bother me. He went on his way, followed by plenty of insults from the chat.
Minutes later another guy pops in and he tells me that I seem like a genuine and nice person, but he wasn't planning to subscribe because he takes a personal stance against AI and those who overuse it. Again, I stated my struggles and my hopes and desires, and again the chat went after this guy like he'd just insulted their grandmother, and again he wasn't really buying my "hope to do better" approach. The worst part is that since the first guy brought it up I was struggling to get over it. A few others chimed in too. I hated them because I knew deep down that they were 100% correct. I couldn't take it any longer. I told the guys in the chat to leave him alone. I told them the trolls weren't being trolls. They felt exactly how I felt, knew exactly what I knew, but they were willing to say it to me.
My friends, my regulars, they defended my AI thumbnails because they did look really cool, and they are right that they looked really cool, but they also weren't created by me, it wasn't a display of my hard work. In the end my AI thumbnails were just another example of AI slop trying to take over. I couldn't be offended over insults toward them. I didn't make them, nor did a friend or even a paid professional. I had sold out to the robot overlords and was sitting there defending myself over it as if I weren't painfully aware of the dangers of AI, as if I didn't hate AI with a fiery passion, as if the image the AI produced WAS me and everything I have worked toward.
I took a day off from streaming and collected my thoughts. I hated AI and I hated the fact that I took that shortcut. I hated being small-time, unknown, unimpressive. But which did I hate more?
The following day I brainstormed some thumbnail ideas and finally came up with one. It was simple. It didn't require me drawing anything or even creating. Just a simple screenshot, a photo, some blur effect, and a text sticker I made years ago. It looked rough, but I made it and I was proud of it. I AM proud of it. It might not be the most eye catching thumbnail ever. It might not make me famous or popular, or even just someone you may have heard of... but at least I am the one who MADE it. I'll take my 7 viewers and .02% click through rate. At least I can hold my head up high knowing that I didn't take the shortcut this time, that I hadn't turned my back on my own principles.
So I started a stream. I changed my thumbnail from the epic and colorful scene Gemini created to the simple concept I threw together. I felt good. I didn't even care how well the stream did. This stream was all me.
Within minutes I had a few more viewers than usual. Some of them dropped off, some stayed to watch, some lurked in silence and some chatted but NONE had anything negative to say about my thumbnail. More viewers rolled in. More chats popped up. Even one of the guys who had torn me to shreds over my thumbnail the other day came back and turned into a subscriber. I gained more watch time in a single stream than I scraped up in the whole month beforehand. I gained a little confidence. A little excitement. I finally came full circle.
I am NOT the only one who is already sick of AI, I am not the only one who skips a video the second it becomes obvious it was made with AI, I am not the only one who absolutely hates what AI is doing to our world.
To hell with AI. I am a human creator, and I always will be. I support human creators, and I always will! Lastly... I HATE AI, AND THERE'S NOT A DAMN THING ANYONE'S GONNA DO THAT CAN CHANGE THAT! Never again will I be selling myself out because I know that eventually people are going to be sick of the lifeless AI slop being shoveled into their faces and they are going to seek out creators like me, even if we aren't that big or that great or even that good yet, because they are going to want to watch someone they feel that they can relate to who can also relate to them. AI will NOT replace us!!!
