AI vs Artists - The Biggest Art Heist in History

Summary

The video discusses the impact of AI image generators like Midjourney on artists. It explores concerns around copyright infringement and data scraping, with models trained on billions of images without consent. The speaker argues this is hurting artists directly by allowing easy mimicry of unique styles. They examine ethical issues like impersonation and generated fake content. Overall, they advocate careful, selective use of AI art to avoid jeopardizing creative futures or discouraging emerging talent through over-automation. The video calls for transparency, consent, and compensation around training data as well as human review of AI art laws.

Takeaways

• 😮 Generative AI models like Midjourney are trained on billions of images scraped from the internet without consent, including artists' copyrighted work
• 😢 Artists feel their unique styles are being stolen by AI to generate images, while they receive no compensation or credit
• 😠 There are no regulations restricting companies from scraping copyrighted content for AI training data
• 😕 AI-generated art saturates online spaces, making it harder to trust content and appreciate human creatives
• 😊 Ethical models like Adobe's train on stock image libraries with creator consent and compensation
• 👀 Tools like Nightshade and Glaze can help creators poison-pill images to protect against scraping
• 🤔 Contributing images to AI models may enable style mimicry and involuntary data laundering
• 😔 Young artists feel hopeless seeing AI instantly achieve aesthetics that took them years to develop
• ⚖️ Clear legislation is needed around transparency, consent, and compensation for AI training data
• 😌 Human creativity, skill, and vision will likely regain dominance as AI art becomes industrialized junk food content

Q & A

What are some of the main concerns artists have regarding AI image generators?

Artists are concerned that their work is being scraped from the internet without consent and used to train AI models. This allows companies to profit from their work without compensation or credit. There are also concerns about potential reputation damage, forgery, and identity theft.

How does AI art affect young and aspiring artists?

Many young artists feel hopeless and discouraged because AI can generate quality artwork with little effort, making them question spending years honing their skills. This could negatively impact the number of people who pursue art as a career.

What are some solutions proposed to make AI art more ethical?

Solutions include only using work from artists who consented, providing royalties and compensation, cataloging generated images to make them traceable, banning direct style mimicry, and requiring a mix of at least two art styles.

How does AI art affect perception of what is considered quality art?

Seeing a lot of AI art online will make people assume most art is AI-generated. This means great human artists may not get recognition, as people doubt the authenticity of art from new and emerging artists.

Why can AI art not be copyrighted in its current form?

The last step of creative expression is done by the AI model based on the prompt, not the person typing the prompt. Without human authorship and creativity, AI art cannot be copyrighted under current laws.

What are some flaws in believing AI art democratizes art?

Most AI artists want to copyright their own work and profit from it commercially. The art community has always welcomed beginners, so there have not been major barriers to entry other than dedication and practice.

How does generative AI threaten the appreciation of art?

AI art is fast, cheap consumerism rather than something contemplated and appreciated. Losing the connection between art and the artist's skills, efforts, experiences and feelings removes meaning and value.

What are examples of companies taking an ethical stance on AI art?

Some companies like Procreate explicitly avoid integrative AI to focus on empowering human creativity. Others like Adobe and Shutterstock are transparent about using only consented data in training.

What skills do human artists have that AI lacks?

Humans have skills AI lacks like true creativity, surprise, conveying thoughts and feelings, and the ability to make glorious mistakes that lead to breakthroughs. This will keep human art valuable.

How can artists with influence make a difference regarding AI art?

Influential artists can speak out about concerns over losing the option to pursue art as a career, and discouragement of young artists. They can value human skill and creativity in their own work.