Trust?

July 28, 2026

Why should you trust us and what should make you skeptical?

AI can be a powerful tool and we use it to create beautiful designs, print them onto lovely products, and market and sell those products. However, there is a lot that can be done with AI that may be misleading and may cause people not to trust it or those who use it!

Be skeptical! Learn how AI is being used and what you should and shouldn't trust!

What we use AI for:

Generating designs based (loosely) on the designs of famous artists (such as Da Vinci, Hopper, Monet, O'Keefe, Klee, Klimt, Van Gough, etc.) who are no longer living. We give the AI prompts to create works that the artists never did (such as Hummingbirds in the style of Da Vinci - who never saw an actual Hummingbird!)
Elaborating in our product titles and descriptions -- the AI suggests adjectives and offers helpful suggestions. A human will always review the content for accuracy.
Creating models and "mockups" to show our product in real-world scenarios and on a diverse population of people. This is where the benefits of AI as a marketing tool really shine -- however, this is also where we must apply the most diligence. The images that we use in our product listings must accurately show the product so that customers will not be misled! If an image shows a product incorrectly (e.g. the AI model is putting her hands into pockets that do not actually exist in the skirt/dress she is wearing!) the customer will understandably be disappointed if the product they purchase isn't how it seemed.
Imagining lifestyle uses for our products for use in marketing videos. Building on #3, we may use "less-than-perfect" AI images in these videos for the purpose of generating interest in our products and so potential customers can envision themselves enjoying their purchases. However, the only acceptable variations would be minor color or texture changes and not anything that would mislead people such as product features that don't exist or are significantly different. Since the image would only be visible very briefly (as part of a video) we are confident people wouldn't be confused or make their purchasing decisions based solely on what they see in a video. Actual colors, sizes, materials, and other information, are found in the product listing and those accurately describe the product.
Marketing Videos and Ads -- this one is actually what inspired me to write this blog. NY State recently passed a law requiring advertisers who use AI generated characters (models) and images of products (mockups) to disclose this use. We agree that it can be very misleading when it may seem a real human person is showing off a product and it is most definitely not our intent to mislead or confuse anyone. Similar to a paid spokesperson or actor, we can write the script that they repeat (sometimes in an AI generated voice) so it can seem like it's a person with a favorable opinion about our products. You may have seen TV commercial with human actors with a disclaimer such as "not an actual customer" or "paid testimonial" or even "simulated reenactment" which should make it clearer.

What we do not use AI for:

These blogs - they are all written by me, Josh Sacks, a living human
Our newsletters - same
Our policies - Shopify, our marketplace provided sample policy templates that I edited to be specific for our store
Reviews - we use Judge.me which sends each customer an email after their purchases. I have an opportunity to respond privately and/or publicly
The videos and images on our Thank You page for collaborators, fans, and affiliates -- although it should be clear that many of those collaborations were gifted
Any other place where we represent something as real and human

We also will never use AI to copy the work of any living artist, their work, or their style. I first became interested in the idea of using AI to create art that my favorite artists did not (or would not) create as a "what if?" loose imagining. The images I've found so far have been beautiful and quite unique -- no one would ever confuse them for the original artists' works, but maybe the AI has picked up something about their unique styles! I do not consider myself an artist - just a "curator" of images that I like that seem to have a certain "feel." Sometimes this can be amusing to me as the AI attempt at "Hummingbirds in the style of Magritte" decided to place tiny little bowler hats on them. See Flock of Hummingbirds on this Hawaiian shirt to see for yourself! Also, the first few attempts at "...in the style of Monet" seemed fixated on waterlilies. Obviously the artist's entire body of work cannot be reduced to a simple meme -- but I liked what it produced for Unicorn By the Sea!

I realize this is not to everyone's taste and I respect other opinions about AI. I just want you all to know that we're very honest about its use on our site and none of this should come as a surprise to anyone!