“In the early 2000s, we had watermark wars. In 2022, we had style laundering.”
— Wing

It’s December 2022.

You’re browsing Etsy, Gumroad, or even a local convention artist alley. There’s a print of a fox samurai under cherry blossoms. It’s striking. Detailed. Ethereal.
You buy it.

But hours later, something nags you.
Was that… AI-generated?

And if it was—shouldn’t they have told you?

🎭 The Invisible Flood#

By late 2022, generative AI art had become too good. Midjourney v4 and Stable Diffusion with custom models were cranking out pieces that mimicked human imperfections: rough brush textures, faux pencil strokes, even “digital signature” scribbles in corners.

These weren’t the janky, dreamy blobs of early tools.
They looked human.

And in many online stores, sellers didn’t disclose their process.

🧼 Style Laundering#

A new term started circulating: style laundering.

Artists—or opportunists—would prompt AI models using known art styles, modify the output slightly, maybe do a Photoshop pass, and sell it as their own.

Sometimes they didn’t even change it.

To the average buyer, it looked like a skilled digital piece.
To insiders, it looked like theft covered in filters.

💸 Marketplaces Didn’t Care#

By December:

  • Etsy had no clear rules about AI-generated art.
  • Redbubble was flooded with text-to-image t-shirt designs.
  • DeviantArt rolled out AI tools without asking its artists first.
  • ArtStation was letting AI-generated art trend on the front page.

Buyers were left guessing. Sellers played coy.
And actual artists? They were either furious or quietly quitting.

🧠 Why Disclosure Matters#

If someone sells you a painting, you expect:

  • They made it.
  • They made choices.
  • There’s some part of them in the work.

With AI art in 2022, that connection broke.
You weren’t just buying an image—you were buying into a story that may not have existed.

No wonder people felt duped.

🧓 Wing’s Retro Gut Check#

Back in the day, when you bought a fan print or a hand-colored sketch, it had fingerprints. Pencil smudges. That little soul hum that told you: someone spent hours here.

In December 2022, that hum was gone. Replaced by clean vectors and emotionless polish.

AI art wasn’t the problem.
The silence around it was.

🚨 The Real Question#

How many people in 2022 gave AI art as a gift…
without even knowing it?

💬 Still buying prints online? Ever asked the artist, “Did you make this yourself?” Maybe it’s time we start. Drop your thoughts here.