Wrinkles in AI Art

A lot of AI imagery has this quality that I’ve only otherwise noticed in foot fetish art. It’s not exactly realistic; it’s anime-inspired more often than not, but in certain ways the detail surpasses the amount that exists in real life. One way this manifests is in an superabundance of wrinkles and creases. Why do clothing and armpits in generated art always have a million creases?

Of course I can come up with an easy backsplaination. Everything in handmade art takes time to create, so there naturally exists an uneven distribution of detail with a few focal areas recieving the largest allotment. Generated art has no such constraint. Every section can have as much detail as any other, leading to a beyond-real effect. Not exactly sur-real or super-real, but definitely a very uncanny not-real feeling.

As for the feet art— until I chanced upon it, I knew not how the foot sole could be sexualized, but the meticulously painted overflowing fields of folded flesh left no doubt in my mind. This artist █████ loves feet. The unexpectedly exuberant detail triggered a familiar uncanny feeling, although to be clear, it was clearly painted with painstaking passion— by hand. Unlike intentionally wrinkly feet, AI art suffers from unintentionally rich detail everywhere and thus the uncomfortably wrinkly armpits.

But if it’s so easy for a layperson like me to explain this tell-tale sign of generated imagery, why does it still exist?

Is this another case of comfirmation bias and the frequency illusion? Perhaps this is not common or commonly noticed or the effect only exists with certain styles or certain models.

If the problem is real, why not “prompt” it away or “penalize” it in post-training? Here I expose my ignorance.

My best and most unsatifying guess is that this— is or was— only a momentary limitation. With a stronger ability to plan, a more natural disbursement of detail may emerge without the need to address this issue specifically. When that day comes, another giveaway of low-effort work will disappear. Eventually we might, like our parents before us, no longer see the difference.

When good foot art is no longer scarce, when humanity’s creative monopoly ends, will we cry or will we be too busy jerkin it?