In agriculture, almost everyone knows that monocultures are bad (the Potato Famine is a prime example, although there are many others). Diversity improves the resilience of crops – it makes them less susceptible to a single point of failure (like a single insect or bacteria that could wipe out a monoculture). We don’t seem to see ourselves as a bunch of potatoes, though, do we?
And yet, wouldn’t our individual illustration practices be more resilient if we could do more than one style or work in more than one medium? Most illustrators I know ‘diversify’ their income through selling products (brushpacks or art prints), teach workshops or do school talks/visits. Their income is more resilient because of it.
So, wouldn’t our collective practise be stronger if we had more illustrators doing different types of work within it – more ‘competition’ – including generative AI? More examples of what a person doesn’t want so when they come across someone like you they see that you’re perfect for the job?
Imagine a world where all illustrators produced all the same stuff? It would become so easy to mimic a computer could do it. A lack of diversity makes illustrators and potatoes vulnerable. Why would we want to stop it?