Why We're Against AI as a Creative Small Business

June 16, 2026

Please, for the love of all that is creative, stop using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to generate images of your custom design ideas. We beg you.

We received another enquiry from a potential customer last week with the dreaded statement, the worst thing we can read in an enquiry as a creative small business, "I've got an AI-generated an image of my idea for you".

No. Just no. Please do not do this.

I'm going to put it out there as a new rule - a new non-negotiable from this moment onwards.

If you send us an AI-generated image of one of our cards with the changes you'd like, we will say no.

There. I said it. And it feels good to stand by my moral compass.

Here's why AI-generated images give me the ick...

Design Rooted in Theft

AI generated images have caused a lot of anger and upset among the design community because of the way it learns how to generate content.

As a real life human artist, my designs are a combination of what I see, how I'm feeling on any particular day, what I've been up to, what I've been interested in recently, and a whole load of other factors. I put my real life feelings, emotions, sensory experiences and ideas into creating my art. Each piece is very much the result of an evolving creative and emotional process. My human experiences and how I see the world heavily influence what I put onto the page.

AI-generation works by analysing existing information to learn underlying patterns, and then using those patterns to create new content. Sounds ok in theory, but it is literally built on creating near-but-not-exact copies of what's already out there. It takes existing art, usually without the knowledge of or permission from the artist, and uses it to learn and create similar images.

Generating images "in the style of" specific artists allows users to bypass hiring the original creators, which directly impacts independent artists' livelihoods and commissioned work opportunities.

Using a process that is based on copyright infringements and design theft does not sit right with me.

Learning as it Goes

The most obvious thing the I've noticed about AI-generated images is how quickly it's learning to copy my style. I find it quite scary that a machine can now create an image that almost looks like one of my cards.

Until recently, AI images could not replicate papercuts at all- it had no idea about making sure all elements joined up so that they would hold together on a single piece of card. But it's getting much better, and it's learning quickly.

Every time a user sends an image of one of my designs to AI, AI takes that information and adds it to the knowledge bank. It's basically teaching AI to copy my artwork.

Let me take you on a visual journey through some of the AI-generated rubbish sent to us over the last few years...

Exhibit A, for your perusal, is some ai-slop generated and sent to us by a customer a while ago. Note that it doesn't exactly resemble a papercut card at all, let alone our unique style. I have covered the surname to protect the identity of the baby who obviously did not ask for her name or details to be added to the AI knowledge bank either.

Exhibit B, you will notice, is much more papercut-realistic. Apart from the double 'Thank You', the gravity defying cross and banner, and a few floating elements, it is almost passable as a papercut. This one was sent to us by a potential customer last month, and the difference between exhibit A and exhibit B is insane.

And finally, I present to you Exhibit C. This is the scariest of all the AI-slop that we've been sent. It uses almost exact elements from my actual designs- the centres of the leaf shapes, the flowers, the card colour and the proportions. Sure, there's loads wrong with it as a functioning papercut, but it is getting closer every time. It feels way more like my style of drawing, minus the human input, 7 years of art school education and 18 years of experience.

So please, please, please, I beg you, stop teaching AI to copy our style by showing it our cards.

Unrealistic Expectations

On a similar note to the point above, these images give people unrealistic expectations about what is actually possible for laser cutting.

They often include impossibly thin joins, floating elements not attached to anything and lines and shadows that just would not be there in real life (example: see the 'Miss Ashley' banner in exhibit B).

Sustainability Concerns

Some AI-Related sustainability stats for you:

Generating images is one of the most energy- and carbon-intensive AI-based tasks. A single AI-generated image can use as much energy as half a smartphone charge, using the least efficient model. Although, there is a large variation between image models. (ACM Digital Library, 2024)

A standard ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.03 to 1.14 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is about 10 times the electricity required for a traditional Google search. (Sustainability Magazine, 2026)

Artificial intelligence systems may now be consuming more water each year than the world’s total bottled water consumption. (Alex de Vries Gao in Patterns, 2025).

Major tech companies are experiencing a surge in greenhouse gas emissions; for example, Google's emissions rose nearly 50% over a five-year period. (The Guardian, 2024)

Lacking Perfect Imperfections

The thing with AI generated images is that they are ultimately created by a machine. They lack soul.

Real human art is perfectly imperfect. It has fingerprints, faults, flaws and f*ck-ups. No machine can replicate the human emotions that an artist puts into their work.

It can create copies. That's it.

Ok, so I know that this isn't so relevant when you're considering creating an ai-generated mock-up of the idea you have in your head. I understand that for you, it is just a tool to get an idea from inside your head onto paper so that we can give you exactly what you want. But it still feels important to mention that ai-generated images completely lack soul, imagination and creativity.