Hello lovely friends and customers!
We know that all things AI are a bit of a hot topic at the moment, and we wanted to make our position as a small business clear.
If you've ever been to our Bovey shop, you'll probably have seen our huge manifesto up on the wall:
"At Grace and Favour Home, we believe in handmade, in small batch and small business, and in the creative minds of each of our clever makers, designers and dreamers. Every product that we stock is designed and made in the United Kingdom, and is chosen to bring joy, colour and fun to the everyday!"
Well, this statement stands more than ever in these strange times, where generative AI has started to pose a huge threat to those things we hold dear: creativity, uniqueness, diversity and the environment.
To put it concisely - we are making a commitment not to stock products which use AI generated artwork, and will be making our best efforts not to use it in our marketing and general online presence too.
That might be enough for those of you who are already concerned about the effect of AI on artists and makers.
However, if you'd like to know our thoughts in a little more detail, read on below!
So why are we talking about this? Our love of the beautiful environment we're lucky enough to live in here on the edge of Dartmoor, and the passion our kids have for the natural world, means that since the start, we have geared our business towards sustainable, ethical products wherever we can.
From launching our washable Facial Rounds, to stocking local seeds from Tamar Organics, switching to recyclable paper postal packaging, and many other moves - it really is important to us to do what we can.
The environmental consequences of AI data centres are potentially huge, creating electronic waste pollutants and consuming scary amounts of much-needed water in already drought-prone areas of the world, with as yet unimagined and unmeasured impact on the local communities, wildlife and plants.
We simply couldn't see our kids enjoying the beauty of Dartmoor and then sell products which are contributing to the destruction of fragile environments.
The next reason is - why on earth would we need to, when our shelves are already brimming with beautiful, unique and playful creations from talented artists?!
Each maker we stock represents someone bringing their dreams to life though skill, creativity and persistence - drawing on their unique experiences and inspirations.
Feel like everything is looking a bit 'samey' lately? One of the things which troubles us is the way that algorithm-driven artwork becomes gradually homogenised. We want to support makers who are creating from the heart, rather than use a service which scrapes content and images from the whole internet (often stealing the hard work of those in the creative industries in the process).
We would much rather be supporting fellow makers who, like us, are using their profits to pay for their children's swimming lessons, to buy from other local businesses and to contribute to a thriving UK art, craft and illustration scene, than give our money to a tech billionaire.
Of course, this is easier said than done now that some services such as social media are almost unavoidably hard-wired to use AI.
But we'll be doing what we can, and really just wanted to shout it from the rooftops that indie makers deserve all the love, support, admiration (and sales!)
With love and thanks for all the support - Rachael and Steve