Wait, people are even using AI flyers to advertise art classes?

We've talked about how it might not be wise to use fake AI food imagery to promote your restaurant – unless you want customers throwing up before they've even placed their orders. Now, some people have spotted what might be an even more off-putting use of the tech.

Over on X, people have been flagging up poster designs for traditional art classes and graphic design courses that use what appear to be AI-generated illustrations and graphics. Some of the flyers are from social media posts, while some of them were spotted out in the wild as on-street advertising.

But would anyone be prepared to take drawing and painting lessons from a teacher who resorts to AI art?

The irony is not lost on those commenting on the posts on X. Some suggest that the as well as casting doubt on the teachers' art skills, the use of AI imagery is an insult to the budding artists they want to attract amid concerns about the impact of AI on creative jobs. It's not exactly placing great value on the skills the students will supposedly be learning and practising.

"Promoting something artistic made with AI just kills any desire to actually learn the craft. Even a shitty scribbled portrait would’ve looked more pro," one person writes. "How can you trust them if they don't even believe it themselves?" another person wonders.

"The worst part is that it isn't all that complicated to get AI to create a decent poster. But even that requires brains and design knowledge. That said, knowing how to draw isn't the same as knowing how to put together a decent poster," someone else points out.

Elsewhere, there are complaints that high schools and universities are also resorting to AI imagery for internal comms.

"When schools use generative AI to create their flyers, logos and art deco, they're telling their art students that their work does not and will not matter," one person writes on Reddit. "They are making it clear that the arts, which are already hard to make a career out of, is now even more fruitless".

To be fair, there are some creative courses in which AI has a place in the curriculum itself. Graphic design and digital art, for example. Students today need to know how AI tools work and what can be done with them – and need an understanding of the issues around law, ethics, quality and control.

That doesn't mean it's a good idea to use fully AI-generated assets to promote a course. That just smacks of laziness. As for drawing and painting tuition, it's like someone advertising cookery classes with a photo of a KFC bucket or a Big Mac.