I think the compute you spend on image generation is probably very little, your work is very likely net positive for the environment, and hiring a designer to make your images would be prohibitively expensive.
While that is likely true, audience perception matters, and you can’t logic your audience into liking AI images when they don’t.
Also, there are plenty of images on Wikimedia Commons—e.g. images of factory farms, chickens, and pigeons—that are free to use, usually with credit required. I’d reach for these if you don’t have the budget for an illustrator.
I think the compute you spend on image generation is probably very little, your work is very likely net positive for the environment, and hiring a designer to make your images would be prohibitively expensive.
While that is likely true, audience perception matters, and you can’t logic your audience into liking AI images when they don’t.
Also, there are plenty of images on Wikimedia Commons—e.g. images of factory farms, chickens, and pigeons—that are free to use, usually with credit required. I’d reach for these if you don’t have the budget for an illustrator.