A 1024x1024 image seems like an unrealistically small image size in this day and age. That’s closer to an icon than a useful image size for display purposes.
I think you're being hyperbolic. On a 1080p screen that's almost the entire vertical real estate. You'd upscale it if you're going to actually use this thing for "useful purposes" like marketing material, but that's not an icon.
A bit, I do admit. But given the ubiquity of 2k+ screens I don’t think it’s entirely hyperbolic. Closer to an icon in size, I meant, not necessarily usage.
I just chose this step for calculations, as it's the most energy intensive part of my AI workflow. Upscaling / extending to get a usable result is really fast by comparison, and I only do it for a few images. It sort of rounds down to zero.
Most of the energy cost is how many images I have to generate to get a satisfactory one (say 100 with a decent prompt). Looking at the broader picture, the biggest energy cost of all is hiring a human designer for layout / typography and to produce print-ready files. Then managing the manufacturer, haha.
A bit off topic, but hopefully something that will brighten your day: I make physical products, so they have to be perfect (it also means I deal in DPI, not pixels). AI speeds up the number of concepts I can generate and send to contractors. I don't try to copy anyone's specific style, that would be boring. I'm sure there are less wholesome uses of this AI thing, but I feel like I've stumbled into something I'm comfortable with.
Believe it or not, I use all this to sell antiques. Like, genuine physical artifacts made by humans hundreds of years ago. I like to tell the story of the era they are from, bring it to life a little with printed supplements. No LLMs for the writing though, I do the research and writing myself, I enjoy it too much. I don't make much money with it, but it's fun, and a way to tell my country's history.