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AI Crochet

No machine can create crochet, but evidently AI is creating a lot of fradulent patterns in crochet for scammers, according to what I've been reading online (here's a good article by cillcrochets.com on how to spot them on Etsy.) Just out of curiosity I went over to Hotpot AI's art generator to see how easy (and convincing) it is to have it create an image of a crochet project. The pics in this post took all of thirty seconds to generate.

I then went to Chat GBT and asked AI to show me some patterns for swirled blankets. It gave me a page of links to both paid and free patterns in less than five seconds; it would be nothing to copy one of the free ones.

It's a bit disheartening to find out that even I can create a fraudulent pattern in under a minute. Unscrupulous folks can and likely will be doing this to the crochet community for as long as they have access to AI resources. So how do you protect yourself as a maker?

Here's what I'm doing:

I buy books versus pattern downloads (in fact I've only bought one pattern download in my life) by crochet maker/authors I trust, like Lauren Espy, or thrift vintage patterns like Leisure Arts leaflets and Crochet world magazine.

I watch crochet tutorials on YouTube, which to my knowledge AI has yet to fake. I also look at patterns recommended by and linked to by other makers I trust like Elise Rose and Toni from TL Yarn Crafts (they also offer great patterns.)

Finally, if I see an image of a crochet project that looks too good to be true (perfectly made with impossible stitches in a magazine setting, for example) I automatically assume it's AI. You should, too. :)

Image credit: all of the images in this post were created by Hotpot AI's art generator.

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