Artists Can Now Fight Back Against AI with Nightshade

In this video, Mike from Game From Scratch discusses the rising concern among artists about AI-generated art, which often uses their work without permission. He highlights recent lawsuits against major AI companies like Stability AI and Mid Journey, which have sparked debate over copyright issues. The video also introduces 'Glaze' and 'Nightshade', tools developed by the University of Chicago to protect and even sabotage AI models by subtly altering images to disrupt their learning processes. These tools provide artists with a means to defend and fight back against unauthorized use of their artwork in AI datasets.

Takeaways

• 😀 AI-generated art has become a major technological advancement, using tools like DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion to create impressive artworks.
• 🎨 Artists have raised concerns over the use of their work in AI models without permission or compensation, leading to class action lawsuits against companies like Stability AI and DeviantArt.
• ⚖️ Getty Images has a strong case against AI companies for using their copyrighted images without permission, evidenced by AI recreating watermarks in generated images.
• 🛡️ Glaze, a project from the University of Chicago, offers artists a technical defense by subtly altering images to make them unrecognizable to AI, but this comes with some visual degradation.
• 🔍 The new tool Nightshade takes a more offensive approach by 'poisoning' AI data models to render them ineffective at replicating specific art styles.
• 👩‍🎨 Nightshade uses AI to create alterations invisible to humans but that disrupt AI learning processes, aiming to protect artists' copyrights more aggressively.
• 🎮 Steam has banned AI-generated art from games on its platform, highlighting ongoing legal and ethical challenges in the use of AI in creative fields.
• 📊 Nightshade demonstrates its effectiveness by showing that even a small number of poisoned images can drastically skew an AI model's output.
• 🔄 The battle between AI developers and protective measures like Nightshade could escalate into a 'cold war' of AI capabilities.
• 🤔 This ongoing conflict raises broader questions about the ethics of AI in art and the potential need for regulatory or industry standards to protect artists.

Q & A

What is the main concern artists have with AI-generated art tools?

Artists are concerned that AI-generated art tools use their artwork without permission or compensation to train their models, which essentially appropriates their creative outputs for commercial use without their consent.

What legal actions have artists taken against AI art tool companies?

Artists have initiated class action lawsuits against companies like Stability AI, MidJourney, and DeviantArt, claiming that these companies violated the DMCA by using their works without permission.

What is Getty Images' stance on AI using their images?

Getty Images has been very protective of its assets and has taken a strong legal stance against AI tools using their copyrighted images without permission, evidenced by cases where AI reproduced images complete with Getty's watermarks.

What is Glaze, and how does it help artists?

Glaze is a project by the University of Chicago designed to protect artists' works from being used by AI without permission. It alters images slightly in ways that are generally imperceptible to humans but disrupt AI's ability to use the images for training purposes.

What are the levels of 'cloaking' offered by Glaze, and how do they affect the artwork?

Glaze offers three levels of cloaking: low, medium, and high. Each level introduces more significant alterations to the artwork, with higher levels causing noticeable distortions, especially when closely inspected.

What is Nightshade, and how does it differ from Glaze?

Nightshade is an advancement of Glaze technology that not only protects images but actively 'poisons' AI data models. By subtly changing image pixels, Nightshade introduces errors into the models that learn from these images, deteriorating the model's overall performance.

How effective is Nightshade in disrupting AI models?

Nightshade has shown to be significantly effective; for example, injecting a model with 'poisoned' images of dogs led the model to misidentify dogs as cats after being exposed to enough tampered samples.

What potential 'Cold War' does the creator foresee with the use of Nightshade?

The creator predicts a technological 'Cold War' where AI developers might enhance their models to detect and counteract poisoning attempts like those from Nightshade, leading to ongoing advancements in both AI and anti-AI technologies.

What is the ethical stance behind Nightshade according to the creator?

The ethical stance behind Nightshade is that it targets only those AI models that unlawfully use artists' work. It's seen as a form of justified defense against unauthorized data scraping, akin to embedding traps within software to deter piracy.

What are the main limitations and downsides to using Glaze and Nightshade?

The main downside is the visual degradation of the original artwork, which can be a significant concern for artists who value the integrity of their visual presentation. There's also the ongoing challenge of staying ahead of AI technologies designed to overcome these protections.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 AI Generated Art and Its Impact on Artists

The first paragraph introduces the topic of AI-generated art, highlighting the excitement around this technology and its ability to create stunning visuals using tools like D3, Mid Journey, and Stable Diffusion. It discusses the controversy surrounding these tools, which train on massive datasets of artwork often sourced without the artists' consent or compensation. This has led to legal challenges, including a class action lawsuit against Stability AI, Mid Journey, and Deviant Art for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The paragraph also mentions the ongoing lawsuit by Getty Images against AI companies for using their copyrighted images without permission. Finally, it introduces Glazing, a tool developed by the University of Chicago that can subtly alter images to prevent AI from learning from them, although this comes at the cost of some visual degradation.

05:01

🛡️ Defensive and Offensive Measures for Artists Against AI Art Generation

The second paragraph delves into the defensive and offensive strategies artists can employ against AI art generation. It explains how glazing can protect an artist's work at the file level, making it appear different to AI systems and disrupting their data models. The paragraph then introduces Nightshade, a tool developed by the same team behind Glazing, which turns the tables by using AI technology to create images that, when added to a dataset, can corrupt AI models. This tool is designed to target AI systems that use artists' work without permission, effectively 'poisoning' their datasets and rendering them less effective. The paragraph concludes by suggesting that this could spark a 'cold war' between artists and AI developers, with each side constantly adapting their strategies.

Keywords

💡AI generated art

AI generated art refers to artwork created by artificial intelligence algorithms, such as those used in programs like DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion. These tools use large data models trained on existing artworks to produce new, original pieces. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses the controversy surrounding AI art, particularly the ethical implications and legal challenges posed by using artists' works without permission or compensation.

💡class action lawsuit

A class action lawsuit is a legal action filed by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of a larger group who are affected by the same issue. In the video, the speaker mentions a class action lawsuit filed against companies like Stability AI and Mid Journey by artists who claim their copyrights were infringed upon by the companies' use of their art in training AI without permission.

💡Getty Images

Getty Images is a global provider of stock images, video, and music for businesses and consumers, known for its extensive library and licensing services. The video references Getty Images' lawsuit against AI companies for using their copyrighted images without permission, highlighting how their watermarked images were replicated by AI, indicating unauthorized training data usage.

💡glaze

Glaze is a technology developed by the University of Chicago aimed at protecting artists' copyrights by making subtle changes to digital images that prevent AI from learning their details effectively. As described in the video, Glaze offers different levels of 'cloaking,' which, while mostly imperceptible to humans, can distort images at higher settings, presenting a dilemma for artists who wish to protect their work without compromising its integrity.

💡Nightshade

Nightshade is an advanced version of Glaze, also developed by the University of Chicago, designed to actively 'poison' AI data sets. By subtly altering images in ways that corrupt the AI's learning process, Nightshade aims to render the AI unable to replicate the artist's style accurately, thereby defending against unauthorized use. The video highlights Nightshade as a potential offensive tool for artists to disrupt AI models that use their work without consent.

💡data model

A data model in the context of AI refers to the structured representation of data that the machine uses to learn. AI models are trained using large datasets from diverse sources, including artworks, to learn and generate outputs. The video discusses how AI art generators use these data models and the ethical issues arising when the data includes copyrighted material without the owner's permission.

💡DMCA

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a U.S. copyright law that addresses the rights of digital media creators. The video mentions that the use of artists' work by AI without permission is a violation of DMCA, which has led to lawsuits against AI companies by artists seeking recompense for the unauthorized use of their copyrighted content.

💡Steam

Steam is a popular digital distribution platform for video games, which, according to the video, has taken a stand by not allowing AI-generated art in games on its service. This policy reflects growing concerns about the ethical use of AI in creative industries and is an example of how platforms can influence the adoption of technology standards.

💡copyright notices

Copyright notices are legal statements used to indicate the ownership of copyright and the rights conferred to the owner against unauthorized use. The video mentions instances where AI programs, trained on copyrighted code or images, inadvertently reproduce these notices, raising significant legal and ethical issues regarding the use of such technologies.

💡cloaking

Cloaking in the context of digital art refers to the technique of making subtle changes to artworks that prevent AI from correctly processing and learning from the images. As explained in the video, technologies like Glaze use cloaking to protect artists' copyrights by altering their art just enough to disrupt AI training processes while keeping the changes almost imperceptible to the human eye.

Highlights

AI-generated art has caught significant attention, utilizing tools like DALL-E 3, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion.

Artists are fighting back against the use of their work without permission in AI training models, leading to class action lawsuits.

Getty Images' lawsuit could potentially set a precedent due to unauthorized use of their copyrighted images in AI models.

AI models have been found to reproduce copyrighted elements, such as watermarks, showing clear evidence of training on protected content.

Steam has taken a stance against AI-generated art on their platform, indicating growing concerns about AI in creative industries.

Glaze, a project from the University of Chicago, offers artists a way to modify their art to protect it from AI data scraping.

Glazing introduces imperceptible changes to art that disrupt AI's ability to learn from it, with varying levels of 'cloaking'.

High levels of glazing can cause visible distortions, presenting a dilemma for artists who want to protect their work without compromising quality.

Nightshade, another tool from U Chicago, is designed to 'poison' AI data models actively by subtly altering images.

By corrupting AI data models, Nightshade aims to prevent them from accurately replicating an artist's style.

Examples show that after poisoning, AI models begin to misinterpret basic elements, mistaking dogs for cats, for instance.

The battle against AI scraping of artwork is likened to a 'cold war' with ongoing efforts to counteract model poisoning.

Nightshade only targets models that use images without permission, making it a defensive tool specific to artists' rights.

Artists now have a means to fight back against generative AI, balancing the scales in the debate over AI and creator rights.

The technology behind Nightshade and Glaze represents a significant development in protecting artists' intellectual property against unauthorized AI use.