Escha Vera got death threats for posting AI art. She kept posting anyway.Perplexity's designer runs a record label, trained her own LoRAs, and built the Comet invitations that broke the internet — each one unique, generated at scale, but deeply intentional.We talk about the hate, the ethics, and why prompting isn't a gimmick skill, but communication.Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: [https://uxtools.co](https://uxtools.co/)CHAPTERS:00:00 - "I can't post anything without death threats"01:48 - How I found Escha's work02:46 - Myspace and Neopets taught her to code04:39 - Losing self-expression in client work06:54 - "I call myself a designer and don't elaborate"08:05 - Perplexity's culture: high trust, high autonomy09:13 - "There's no roadmap, just do it"11:53 - How the Comet invitations actually got made14:51 - Scaling unique outputs to 10K+ generations17:44 - Evaluating AI tools as inputs vs outputs20:16 - Pushing Midjourney to break terms of service21:35 - "Being a good designer is about communication"24:22 - Trial and error prompting with Comet26:22 - Prompting as a second-class citizen to features30:48 - "Can you be pro AI and pro self-expression?"36:13 - The ethics question that kept her at Descript38:35 - The hate and vitriol from sharing AI work40:51 - "Ask how it was made before throwing hate"43:31 - The blurred line: how much of it is AI?45:31 - Should we disclose AI in our work?48:40 - Daily driving tools at Perplexity50:37 - The spinning planet she shipped in 5 minutesABOUT TOMMY GEOCOI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech. This show is how I'm rediscovering my love for the game.ABOUT STATE OF PLAYHost Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders.LINKS:UX Tools Newsletter: [https://uxtools.co](https://uxtools.co/)Follow Escha: https://x.com/eschadiolPerplexity: [https://perplexity.com](https://perplexity.com/)Comet: https://www.perplexity.ai/cometFOLLOW ME:X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertomInstagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco

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