Knitting and Ageism...part two

It turns out that I’m not done with this subject quite yet. There is more to say, it seems. Part of this has been sparked by a conversation with members of my paid Substack Everyday Knitter community and this post is really an amalgamation of two of my previous posts. The Gotham Grannies post which talked about the issue of AI generated images and knitting, and last weeks piece on Knitting and Ageism.

It wasn’t planned this way but it evolved as conversations here tend to do. Comments made by folks on the post sparked conversations between others in a way that really highlights to me what makes Substack so very different to other places on the internet.

It is a place which holds space for genuine connections to be made and conversations to be had, in a way that I really don’t remember happening before.

As one of the founders of Substack said recently “What you read matters, so does where you read it”.

A better internet for readers

As the spark for this conversation was lit within my paid subscribers community I wanted to take this opportunity to thank them for being the first 50 members of my Everyday Knitter community here - a place for which I have big plans over the coming months.

If this discussion has piqued your interest and you’d like to dive a little deeper into the knitting world, beyond the ‘pattern please’ culture of Facebook groups; if you’d like to share genuine connections and conversations with like-minded folk then please do consider a subscription.

I want to start by saying a big thank you first of all, for all of the heartfelt and thoughtful comments on my last post. I really welcomed the fact that people engaged with the spirit of my last post and appreciated that I wasn’t trying to patronise or talk down to people. It was more a case of gently questioning and maybe even challenging some of our own deeply held biases and assumptions.

So in that vein, I’ll continue…

It seems to me that there is a very real contradiction in the knitting world regarding stereotyping and ageism. Many knitters, quite understandably are riled when those around them or the wide society dismisses something as ‘something old ladies do’ or ‘just for grannies’.

And yet they will happily share images of comedy knitwear on social media. The ubiquitous Gotham Grannies or the new contender for the AI crown, the old lady crouched next to a ‘knitted’ car cosy. Although if you look closely you can see that the material is a weird blurry omni-fabric that’s is clearly neither crochet nor knitting.

“But it’s just for fun” is the response when you point out that the image is fake or there might even be anger directed at you for 'spoiling their fun’.

I understand that people don’t like to admit that they have been duped by a fake image, any more than they like being admitting to being fooled by a practical joke, and they certainly don’t take kindly to it being pointed out.

But I can’t understand why people would share images like this knowingly, knowing they are fake and then complain that ageism is rife in the knitting world.

These images are now ubiquitous. They are deeply embedded into search engines and social media for ever.

At least the ‘knitting Nanas’ only ever annoyed UK folk. Here’s a link for non-UK readers who have no idea what a breakfast cereal advert has to do with knitting. But these images, the Gotham Grannies, the 6-ft high knitted dragons will be around for as long as social media is. Inextricably linking knitting with old ladies. For ever.

As knitters who care about our craft and how it is portrayed shouldn’t we be doing more to promote positive images and associations?

In my own Facebook group we have a blanket ban - no pun intended - on AI images and they are swiftly deleted. The response to this from the group has been overwhelmingly positive.

Should this be something that all groups do? That’s not for me to say. But I do think that large organisations, as well as individuals and businesses with large social media followings have a responsibility to ensure that the images and content they share are aligned with their stated values.

An organisation that claims to promote the craft of handknitting, in my opinion has no place sharing AI generated knitting images. At the very least they should be clearly labelled as such. The problem with this of course is that often the caption and the image become separated as people screenshot and share the image - thus ensuring it enters the ever growing content bank of stereotypical content.

So what can you do?

• Question what you see before you share it. If something looks too good to be true it probably is.

• Learn how to spot an AI image: this article is useful

• Gently point out to others when they share it.

The whole issue of AI in the craft world is evolving so quickly that it is hard to keep track of it. Undoubtedly there are areas where it can improve our crafting lives for the better but we also need to be aware of potential for abuse.

We’ve also seen the spam posts in Facebook groups for the T-shirts with knitting slogans. There’s usually a dubious link to click to ‘order’ which hopefully very few people are fooled by. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where someone generates an AI image of a sweater or shawl design, something striking and eye-catching and a handy ‘buy pattern here’ link. When of course no such pattern exists and all they want is your credit card info.

The “Oh, it’s just for fun” response to AI images might take on a rather different tone when people can no longer tell the difference between an actual image of a pattern for a sale or a fake one.