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Participant
September 24, 2026
Question

censorship

  • September 24, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 12 views

I tried using Firefly system to animate a simple image (attached). The description I fed into the system is below, word for word. I was issued a warning and told that it could not complete the task because “a word” violated their supposed terms of agreement. I challenge anyone to find the “word” that tripped up their system and would not complete the task. I pay Adobe hundreds of dollars a year to do simple things for me. 

I read the current guidelines, and nothing in the prompt I gave appears to violate the published policy. The scene is about as benign as historical imagery gets: an elderly man sitting at a table writing by lamplight.

Adobe’s prohibited-content list covers pornography/explicit nudity, hateful attacks on protected groups, graphic violence or gore, self-harm, sexualized minors, terrorism/extremism, harmful deception, privacy violations, and certain regulated activities. It also prohibits infringing on third-party copyright, trademark, privacy, or publicity rights.

I am demanding a full explanation of what happened here, and more importantly, what they're going to do about it. 

HERE’S THE PROMPT ADOBE FOUND SO OFFENSIVE:

 

Create a cinematic, photorealistic scene of the Apostle Paul imprisoned in the first century Roman Empire, writing one of the letters that would eventually become part of the New Testament.

Paul is an older, weathered Jewish man, approximately in his late 50s or early 60s, with a short graying beard, thinning dark-gray hair, deeply lined features, and an expression of intense concentration and quiet conviction. He wears simple, worn first-century robes in muted earth tones.

He sits hunched slightly over a crude wooden table inside a small, dark, dingy Roman prison cell. The walls are rough stone, damp and aged, with very little natural light. Several pieces of parchment and partially rolled scrolls lie scattered across the table. Paul holds a primitive reed pen in his hand and is actively writing Greek text onto a sheet of parchment.

A single small oil lamp or candle sits on the table beside him, casting warm golden light across Paul’s face, hands, and parchment while the rest of the prison cell disappears gradually into deep shadow. The light should create dramatic chiaroscuro, emphasizing the contrast between the darkness of his physical surroundings and the significance of the words he is writing.

Include subtle signs of imprisonment: a heavy wooden door with iron fittings in the background, rough stone flooring, perhaps a loose chain or iron shackle near his feet or attached to the wall. Do not make the scene theatrical or overly elaborate. It should feel historically authentic, cramped, uncomfortable, and austere.

Paul’s expression is important: he is not defeated or miserable. He is absorbed in his work, purposeful and resolute, as though he understands that the message he is writing matters far beyond the walls surrounding him.

Composition: medium-wide cinematic shot, Paul and the table as the clear focal point, viewed slightly from the side so his face, writing hand, parchment, and glowing lamp are all visible. Strong shadows, warm candlelight against cool dark stone, shallow depth of field, subtle atmospheric haze, historically accurate first-century Roman setting, highly detailed textures, realistic skin, fabric, stone, parchment and wood, dramatic but reverent biblical realism, 16:9 aspect ratio, no modern objects, no printed books, no modern pens, no readable English text.

 

    3 replies

    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 24, 2026

    Well...that’s not so much a prompt as a movie script. If you’re using the attached image as a reference, you’re already giving the bot information it probably doesn’t need. I don’t know what model you used, but you may have exceeded its limitations with regard to the number of tokens the bot needs to do its job. It may not be a particular word, but the bot is simply having trouble sorting out all the information. I’ve never seen AI result in a message like, “I’m sorry, but I’m confused and you need to reduce the length of your prompt.” So it defaults to a more general violation of terms. Just a guess. 

    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    Participant
    September 24, 2026

    Yeahhhhh, I don’t know about that. To get the best out of AI engines, prompts should be very detailed. I’ve had amazing results because of that. If Adobe can’t handle too many words, it needs a more elegant response than to tell me I’ve violated their terms. I’m going to hold out for a more thorough explanation from Adobe. This is their mess to clean up.

    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 24, 2026

    Never the less, here’s what I came across:

    Excessively long AI prompts often reduce accuracy and generate generic outputs because extra words create noise and compete for the model's attention. [12]

    Why Long Prompts Fail

    • Attention dilution: Repetition and unnecessary background act as noise, lowering reasoning accuracy.
    • Overloading tasks: Asking an AI to brainstorm, organize, and write all at once yields shallow results.
    • Output drift: Long projects suffer from subtle shifts in tone and focus over time.

    Does “generic outputs” also include terms violation messages? Dunno. But possibly.

    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.