We Have To Talk About AI Art...

The video discusses the rise of AI art and its impact on the art community. It highlights concerns regarding the unauthorized use of artists' work in AI training datasets and the potential for AI to reproduce copyrighted images. The video also addresses the issue of AI inheriting the biases of its predominantly white, male developers, leading to problematic outputs. The creator emphasizes the need for consent from artists and the importance of supporting independent artists in the face of AI's encroachment on the art industry.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The rise of AI art is concerning for many artists due to the lack of consent and potential for their work to be used without permission.
• 🤖 AI art is created by training algorithms on datasets, which can lead to issues when the data is sourced without artist consent.
• 🔍 AI's inaccuracy in initial predictions is corrected through a validation process, but this can still lead to ethical concerns about data sourcing.
• 🚫 The founder of Mid Journey admits to using internet data without being selective or seeking permissions, raising ethical red flags.
• 🧐 There's a lack of options for artists to opt-out of having their work included in AI datasets, which is a significant oversight.
• 📈 Proponents of AI art argue it's a collaborative process, but this often overlooks the fact that the human input is based on unauthorized use of their work.
• 🤖 AI art has been shown to reproduce images from its training data, which contradicts claims that it creates something entirely new.
• 🧐 AI tends to inherit the biases of its trainers, which are often predominantly white men, leading to potentially harmful and biased outputs.
• 🌐 The lack of diversity in tech and AI development can lead to AI reflecting and perpetuating societal prejudices.
• 🖼️ Artists are upset because their work is not only being stolen but also used to propagate biases and potentially offensive imagery.
• 💰 There are broader implications of AI art on the art market, including the commodification of art and the impact on freelance artists and small businesses.
• ❓ The video suggests further exploration into topics like the relationship between AI art and NFTs, and the potential for creating deep fake images.

Q & A

What is the main concern of artists regarding the rise of AI art in mainstream media and creative communities?

The main concern of artists is the lack of consent from them when their work is included in AI's training datasets, leading to a disregard for their creative rights and the potential for their work to be used unethically.

How does an AI art-making algorithm typically learn to create art?

An AI art-making algorithm learns by being fed a dataset, making predictions based on that dataset, and then undergoing validation where its guesses are measured for accuracy and refined with additional data.

What is the issue with the data sets used to train big art-making AIs like DALL-E and mid-Journey?

The issue is that these data sets are often sourced without the consent of the artists whose work they include, leading to a disregard for artists' rights and potential copyright infringement.

Why is the lack of diversity in tech, particularly in machine learning, a problem?

Limited diversity in tech leads to AI outputs that reflect the lack of diversity, which can result in biases being incorporated into AI art, such as racial and gender stereotypes.

What was the outcome of the study conducted by researchers from John Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Washington regarding AI bias?

The study found that the AI developed by OpenAI, known as CLIP, tended to make assumptions about people's roles and jobs based on their gender and/or skin color, indicating a significant racial and gender bias.

How does the AI art debate affect professional artists?

Professional artists are affected as their work is being used without consent to train AI, which can then produce art that competes with or replaces human-made art, potentially leading to job loss and a devaluation of their craft.

What is the argument from Pro AI art groups regarding the use of existing artwork in AI training?

Pro AI art groups argue that AI art is a collaborative process between human and machine, and that it isn't stealing because the AI is trained on databases of images, not directly copying from them.

Why do some artists feel that AI art is anti-artist?

Artists feel that AI art is anti-artist because it can directly steal or reproduce their work without consent, and it can also perpetuate harmful biases that are reflected in the AI's outputs.

What is the potential issue with AI art reproducing sensitive or offensive imagery?

AI art has the potential to reproduce sensitive or offensive imagery because it is trained on vast datasets that may contain such content, leading to the propagation of harmful stereotypes and biases.

How does the creator of the video suggest supporting independent artists in the face of AI art?

The creator suggests supporting independent artists by donating to their Patreon, purchasing their merchandise, and supporting them both online and in local communities.

What is the stance of the video's creator on the current discourse surrounding AI art?

The video's creator is critical of the current discourse, pointing out the ethical issues with AI art, including the lack of consent from artists, the potential for bias, and the direct reproduction of copyrighted material.

What are some additional topics related to AI art that the video's creator considered discussing?

The video's creator considered discussing the relationship between AI art and NFTs, the effect of commodifying art as a product, and the potential for AI to create sensitive deep fake images.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 AI Art Controversy: Impact on Artists

The video discusses the rise of AI art and its disheartening impact on artists. It explains how AI art is created using datasets and algorithms, leading to concerns about the unauthorized use of artists' work in these datasets. The video also addresses the issue of AI inheriting biases from its creators, which are predominantly white men, and how this lack of diversity can lead to problematic outputs. The creator calls for support for independent artists and criticizes the disregard for artists' consent in AI art creation.

05:01

🤖 AI Bias and Its Impact on Art

This paragraph delves into the biases present in AI development, particularly in the field of art generation. It highlights how AI's training data, often sourced without consent, can lead to the reproduction of copyrighted material and the propagation of racial and gender biases. The discussion includes examples such as Twitter's facial recognition AI and the Clip AI neural network, which demonstrated racial and gender prejudices. The paragraph emphasizes the negative implications of these biases for artists and the art community.

10:02

🚫 Ethical Concerns and the Future of AI Art

The final paragraph addresses the ethical concerns surrounding AI art, including the theft of artists' work and the replacement of art jobs with AI. It also mentions the potential for AI to create sensitive or offensive imagery due to the biases in its training data. The video concludes by encouraging viewers to support independent artists and to consider the broader implications of AI in the art industry. It suggests that while AI art has its proponents, there are significant issues that need to be addressed by developers.

Keywords

AI Art

AI Art refers to artwork that is created using artificial intelligence. In the video, it is discussed as a controversial topic due to the way AI is trained on datasets of existing artwork without the consent of the original artists. The script mentions AI art's rise in mainstream media and its impact on professional and hobbyist artists.

Data Set

A dataset is a collection of data that is used to train AI algorithms. In the context of the video, the creation of art-making AI involves feeding a dataset to an algorithm, which then makes predictions based on that data. The script highlights the ethical issues with sourcing these datasets from the internet without artist consent.

Validation

Validation is the process of checking the accuracy of an AI's predictions and refining it with additional data. The video discusses how AI's guesses are measured for accuracy during this step. It also touches on the potential for biases to be infused into the AI's training during validation.

Bias

Bias in AI refers to the tendency of AI systems to favor certain outcomes based on the data they were trained on. The video script addresses the issue of AI inheriting the biases of its programmers, which are predominantly white men, leading to problematic outputs such as racial and gender stereotypes.

Deep Learning

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that uses neural networks to model complex patterns in data. The video mentions experts in deep learning who argue about the differences between how machines and humans learn, which is crucial for understanding the limitations of AI in art creation.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)

NFTs are unique digital assets that represent ownership of a specific item, often used in the context of digital art. The video briefly mentions the relationship between AI art and NFTs, hinting at the broader implications of commodifying art and the potential impact on artists.

Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion is an AI model mentioned in the video that has been used to create AI art. The script discusses how this model can reproduce images from its training set when given the right prompt, raising concerns about copyright infringement and the use of stolen artist styles.

Consent

Consent in the context of the video refers to the permission from artists for their work to be included in AI training datasets. The lack of consent is a major ethical concern, as it involves using artists' work without their permission, which is a violation of their rights.

Diversity

Diversity refers to the variety of different people in terms of race, gender, etc., within a particular group or organization. The video points out the lack of diversity in tech and AI development, which contributes to the biases in AI outputs and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes in AI art.

Opt-Out

Opt-out in this context means the ability for artists to choose not to have their work included in AI datasets. The video criticizes AI developers for not providing an easy way for artists to opt out, which further exacerbates the ethical concerns surrounding AI art.

Deep Fake

Deep fakes are synthetic media in which a person's likeness is swapped with another using AI. The video briefly touches on the potential for AI to create sensitive deep fake images, which is a significant concern due to the realistic nature of the generated content.

Highlights

AI art has recently gained significant attention in mainstream media and creative communities, causing concern among artists due to its rapid rise.

Artists are upset about AI art because it involves creating datasets from artworks without the artists' consent.

AI art training involves feeding an algorithm a dataset and letting it make predictions based on that data.

AI art can be problematic due to the potential for direct copying of images from the training datasets.

The founder of Mid Journey admits to using a 'big scrape of the internet' for training data without being selective or seeking permissions.

AI art developers often inherit biases from their predominantly white, male training teams, leading to biased outputs.

A study showed that popular image diffusion models can directly reproduce images they were trained on.

AI art can manifest racial and gender biases, as seen in the case of the Lensa AI Avatar feature.

Artists' work is being used in AI art without their consent, which is a significant ethical concern.

AI art has the potential to replace human artists in certain roles, which threatens the livelihood of professional artists.

Proponents of AI art argue it's a collaborative process, but this overlooks the unauthorized use of artists' work.

AI art can unintentionally reproduce sensitive or offensive imagery due to the biases in its training data.

The lack of diversity in tech, particularly in AI development, results in AI outputs that reflect these biases.

AI art's ability to reproduce copyrighted images raises legal and ethical questions about its use.

The video discusses the importance of supporting independent artists in the face of AI art's challenges.

The creator calls for a more responsible approach to AI art development that respects artists' rights and addresses bias.

The video concludes by encouraging viewers to support independent artists and engage in discussions about AI art.