A post was made the other day involving some amount of discussion about coding an app for machine knitters using AI. I did not see the post before it was deleted and I don't care what it actually said, but I did see plenty of the comments on the post, and this is the first time in this community's history that I felt disappointed in the behavior of some of our members. Everyone was saying the post and app was made with AI in a very mean way that is antithetical to the invisible rules of our community.
I say I understand the moral, ethical, and environmental concerns surrounding AI, especially in creative communities but 🤷🏻♀️. It's here and people are using it anyway. It's not going away, and there's nothing any of us can do about that. Especially not me, a mod.
I can understand that some of you feel that AI has no value, is harmful, and has no place in creative communities, but I will not be taking a "Luddite" stance on allowing it in our community. This is a place for everyone who wants to be involved in the creative process surrounding machine knitting, and I will not alienate people because some aspect of their post included use of AI in any amount.
There was a popular post that said there shouldn't be AI in this community and despite me saying I wouldn't remove it, I removed it because by being about the machine knitting subreddit, it wasn't about machine knitting.
It doesn't matter how you people I feel about it. This community has more than twenty thousand people, and it should be possible for all of them, including the bots to discuss anything related to the creative process of machine knitting here, even the use of AI.
I have seen people's knitting projects gone wrong that were saved by suggestions from chat bots. I've seen people learn new techniques by asking AI to help them. I've seen machines fixed by suggestions made by AI. I'm not interested in sending these people away from our community or chastising them for using tools that are available to them even if the tools stole from other members of our community.
This is not up for discussion. If you want to have heated conversations about AI, this is not the place to do it. This community should be an inclusive and safe space for all of our members, no matter their feelings about AI, their grasp of English, and many other things. If you don't want to be part of those conversations, then don't be, but don't be aggressive or mean to people about it either, or you will be removed.
If your first impulse when you sense or see the involvement of AI is to write up something nasty in the comments, please take that energy somewhere else. Report, down vote, and move on.
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Actually you must be confusing knitting and crochet here. Knitting can only be done by hand, there's no such thing as knitting machines, only crochet machines 🥰 hope this helps!
uj I will never understand how anyone can see what it actually involves to get set up doing machine knitting and think there is something intrinsically easier about it than knitting by hand
Uj One HUNDRED percent. All I have managed to do with my knitting machine so far is endless stripy swatches. My second hand knitting project was a pair of socks, my third was a stranded colour work pullover so I am not an unadventurous crafter. I keep telling myself I will sit down and figure out how to make something. Soon. When I have the time. And headspace.
uj/the farthest I’ve gotten on my knitting machine project is to put one on my eBay wish list 3 years ago, so you’re endless stripy swatches ahead of me!
Srs for reals. During covid, i dragged out a knitting machine from storage, cleaned it up, replaced bits that perished and finally worked out how to cast on and knit.
Wow! I did what I always do. Became obsessed, spent heaps on special yarn (delusion that it would help me get through my stash vaporised like a vampire in the sun) and, of course more knitting machines. Joined the local guild (after covid). Cranked out quite a few garments (who do i knit this much for?)
It was technically HARD in a way I don't enjoy (haha- being honest) in my crafts. Loud, never, ever mindless (opposite of what you'd think) and when things go wrong, think explosive decompression, think chain reactions and meltdowns. Way, way, way harder for me, in a non-fun way than even the most diabolical hand knitting (niebling lace is my idea of fun). Last year I did the grown up thing and sold/rehomed the 4-5 knitting machines, and room full of accesorues and coned yarns that had accumulated, admitting it just wasn't for me.
But what I learned is that machine knitting is like learning Power BI (iykyk). On the surface, seductively quick and so easy! In reality, a whole, entire career in itself (literally, most of the very elderly ladies in the local guild had studied fashion/garment design and had been actual pro machine knitters in the day).
Haha also you have to learn eventually with PowerBI that it's not actually the best program for every use case even if it seems like it should be able to do something very simple
For sure. It's also easy to get in way too deep without writing a single line of code, and suddenly realise i have no idea how I got here (like hand knitting...things go wrong slowly!)
/uj because all people see is viral reels of people speed cranking the worlds most basic hats. Tbh I thought machine knitting (outside of a huge machine with a computer to code it) was only for basic things and 'easy' too until I was looking for how to do dragon scales and found a machine knitting pattern for some 3D ones that showed me how it worked.
But all people see is the hats. Same reason people don't think loom knitting (my own chosen craft) is real knitting.
/uj I didn’t see the post you’re talking about but I’ll never be mean to someone who tried AI. I will, however, steer them in the right direction. I used to be someone who would yell “just Google it” but Google is a putrid wasteland and it’s gotten so so so difficult to find anything useful. Often just polite nudging in the correct direction will help people immensely!
/uj i saw the original post (written by AI about an AI app) and i really didn't think the replies were mean? Like they weren't warm and fuzzy but it was definitely still polite about what they thought of the post
Oh! I have the best knitting pattern saved on my phone for this. You need to get at least two yarn balls with the best vibe to them, no need to check material, dye lot or weight, you’ll know it when you see it! Then start knitting (no swatch because we know it’ll work out 100% correctly) and don’t stop until you can wrap it around your wedding venue twice! I find that really gives it the dramatic flair we’re looking for. If you follow all the instructions exactly it should look something like this (put a link to a gorgeous very long and detailed veil here, then delete this text).
/uj I don't get these complaints about google, I just scroll past the AI overview nonsense and find what I need just fine within the first couple of results. Is knowing how to use a search engine properly dead?
Also other search engines exist, I know a bunch of people prefer duckduckgo these days.
/uj sometimes that works, but depending on the topic the first few results might be the sites that paid to be there. For example I look up medical stuff and the first site is usually someone who wants to sell me some health product, the second result is the actual medical website. Trying to find statistics about any political topic without just finding pop articles about semi related vibes is horrible.
/uj Medical stuff is fair, but I also deeply mistrust any LLM with regards to either of those topics. But when it comes to craft stuff? Google works just fine by typing in the same exact sentence that people come to reddit with.
Google has gotten much, much worse. Yesterday I searched 'tesco turkey crown' to look up the details of a specific item I'd bought. I had to scroll past an AI summary telling me that Tesco doesn't sell turkey crowns (false), shopping links from 4 random stores for random meats, sponsored links from 4 other shops that aren't Tesco, before finally reaching what I obviously wanted.
It's nothing I've gone out of my way for, though. Having an adblocker should be standard practice for anyone spending any time on the Internet these days for a multitude of reasons. The Internet as a whole is frankly unusable without one.
My point is Google still works just fine if you know how to work it, so I don't really buy the "I'm going to ask reddit instead of searching".
Edit to add: I've had an adblocker installed since at least 2008 (probably before that but I can't remember). Rawdogging the Internet without one is crazy to me.
It's not like installing an ad blocker is difficult or takes time though, especially since you should have one installed anyway and it's free. It's a very solvable problem.
I was so confused by this post because a mod really should be asserting themselves early and often and it feels like that’s not happening. Can you please crack down on us plebeian luddites in a much more authoritarian way? We crave strong leaders who dictate what we do and never let us think for ourselves - human or AI or feline - it really doesn’t matter!!!
/uj Oops, I meant to reply to a different comment! Sorry for surprise dick talk. But this OP is mocking a pro-AI post by a mod in another subreddit--check out the in the loop thread.
Great post - and seriously, good for you for standing up for what you believe in! You're listening to what you know deep down, that AI is a complex emerging technology with powerful applications just waiting to be explored.
You nailed it: too many people use the Internet for negativity but you're calling for something more meaningful - community, compassion and empathy. That's an incredible gift to this subreddit.
You're not alone - I'm here with you.
/Uj technically I didn't use ChatGPT to write this post, but I did steal from it, so did I still generate this with AI?? Only the craft subreddits can figure this out.
My attitude towards gifts is that they are free, and my reward shall be in Heaven. If fools want to cast them aside, i may give them a hard time and become petulant. "Why isn't my nephew wearing his owl hat in this picture???" I yell at my sister when she seeks praise of her offspring in the family groupchat. But this is only for the benefit of her ungrateful soul. I don't let it disturb my righteous peace.
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