AI assisted hobbies, where does it help and where does it get in the way - help needed

[Marcus]

Q: Is using AI tools in your hobby cheating or just a better tool?

A: Depends entirely on what the hobby is for. If the point is the process, the skill development, the friction, then AI assistance that removes that friction removes the point. If the point is the output, or sharing something with other people, or solving a problem, then AI is just a more capable tool in the box.

The interesting cases are the hobbies where the answer is not obvious. Knitting patterns generated by AI and then hand knitted. Chess study assisted by AI analysis. Fiction writing with AI suggesting plot directions. Where do you draw the line and why does it matter to you personally

[SpinorWave]

I use AI for chess analysis and would never use it during a game. The distinction is between learning and competing. Entirely different things with different rules

[RomoneyWalters]

The knitting example is the one that trips me up. If I hand knit every stitch of an AI generated pattern am I engaged in a creative act or an execution act

[KeyboardWarrior47]

Is hand knitting someone else's human designed pattern any different though. Pattern design and knitting are separable skills that have always been separable

[Current]

Fair point. Yarn dyers, pattern designers, and knitters have always been different roles. AI pattern design is just another designer in that chain

[Seb83]

For woodworking I use AI to check joinery calculations and wood movement estimates. The physical skill is entirely mine. The maths check is a tool like a calculator

[Foundry20]

Photography post processing with AI enhancement is where I feel the tension most. If Topaz sharpened it, is it my photograph in the same way

[PhilippeMercadal]

The photograph captured the moment. The processing is interpretation. Photographers have always made choices about development. AI is a new development tool not a new category of question

[Builder]

I stopped using AI for creative writing after six months. The assistance made outputs better by most metrics and completely removed the reason I was doing it. The struggle was the hobby

[Holly]

That is the most honest answer in this thread and probably the most useful framing