I write this from the perspective of an artist, though most of my thoughts on this will apply to so many other fields of study and industry.
AI art has gotten incredibly good. It hurts to admit that, and generates frightening consequences for the creative industries that exist today. It is a complex matter. I am pretty pissed off that specific artists' work has been used to train AI art generators that are already being monetized, largely without consent or compensation of the original artists. The platforms we have come to rely on to network and build an audience for our expressions and careers have in large part handed that work over to the companies developing these apps. Remember that we are not talking about Artificial General Intelligence, but rather companies made up of people, making monetized products, built on uploaded data that was not theirs to upload. In many cases, the image repositories used were social media and portfolio platforms, that artists had agreed to the terms of service, for those specific platforms. I understand that right there is one of the major breakdowns in any hope of protection for the intellectual property of artists. These AI generation apps, are not those platforms however. Most of the images and data used for these image generators are not subject to the terms of service of these monetized apps. It gets nuanced when we consider that many artists gather reference images to inspire and inform their own work, and I agree that we learn in a similar way that the AI does. I also have no problem with artists choosing to upload their own work to neural networks for their own projects, or to inform AGI. The problem is with the humans claiming the AI's work as "their" images, and monetizing them. These lazy opportunists have in less than a year, diluted every corner of online art communities, and this is only the beginning. As AI takes over more and more of the methods we living humans have as options to survive the labyrinth of a hyper-monetized society, have we discussed what we are supposed to do to afford any of it? We have seen automation implemented in physical industries many times already, and often that comes with mass layoffs, with no plan to compensate or consider those living people. It is happening in the tech and entertainment industries again as I write this. AI as a tool in the art and entertainment industry is a canary in a coal mine. This is going to hurt a lot of artists, but the evolution into refined deep fakes will hurt a lot more people. Deep fakes is a terrifying technology to hand over to a public brimming with abusive scammers and assholes that will rob people blind then brag about doing so. Our society is not organized enough or prepared for this. Governments around the world are barely bringing the topic of legislation to regulate human usage of these technologies up, at least publicly. The social media platforms willfully handing over peoples' legacies to these frauds are in large part just telling us "It's evolution, get used to it." instead of protecting the communities they rely on to be a business in the first place. It's just more of the callous disconnect of corporate "growth" being placed before the human spirit or overall well being. This will impact media, journalism, education, politics, dating, housing, law, and any other part of our society where finding accurate and legitimate information and truthful communication is imperative. We genuinely need ways of regulating this behavior. Stating our refusal to consent to these manipulations and thievery has had little to no effect on the perpetrators of this behavior so far, and it has generated mass distrust in previously existing systems of protection or representation. I personally do not want to see Earth stripped of the last remnants of the sacred, and ruled by corporate feudalism. It is the opposite direction of cumulative awakening and evolution. It clearly leads to more disparity and non-consensual suffering. I certainly don't have solutions to the seemingly insurmountable problems we face as people of Earth, but let's just start with AI art as an example. I think that any AI generated images should automatically be public domain works. That is the AGI "utopia" that researchers are positing as an eventuality for this technology, so start by living up to that ideal. Any image generated by AI projects cannot be claimed by the project creators, or those interacting with it's interfaces. If derivative works generated by AI software too closely resembles existing intellectual properties, that ownership of those existing properties still remains the property of the original IP producer. Any AI work influenced by those properties is considerably public domain "Fanart" and cannot be sold for monetary gain. This way, all of those images become open source resources for anyone. This "solution" still greatly dilutes the market for working artists. It still disincentivizes people to seek out artists to create assets for their projects. This topic of conversation is dense, and fleeting fast ahead of what any one human can solve or predict. The problems involved compound as AGI improves, and it is implemented into more industries. For so many ridiculous reasons we have created a society reliant on monetization, yet continually find ways to detriment public access to the money needed to participate in that form of society. If AI and other forms of automation continue to be implemented into our society as a means of continuing the growth of wealth disparity, instead of a means to distribute wealth, and ease the damaging nature of human labor, then it will definitely generate more suffering not less. Not everyone's utopia includes complete disconnect from nature and genuine organic connection. These implementations must be regulated until the damaging effects toward humans are first addressed, and security systems like fraud identification and theft prevention are much more suited for the concentrations of these crimes we cumulatively face. To all of those with good hearts, striving for honesty and self improvement, stay vigilant and stay true to your course. Adapt where necessary but don't give up. If you can find even small moments of self expression, and energetic transmutation, revel in those moments. They may be all we get. Take pride in knowing that the strokes of your creative instruments are completely unique to you, and that you need not outproduce the machines. Distill this heaviness into expressions of your dreams and emotions. We are all subject to entropy, we always have been, so respect the process of your learning and attempt to record your dreams through art if you can muster the will. Refine your inputs and reiterate as you advance and evolve. You too are a part of nature unfolding infinitely. Perhaps if you have read this far along you have the capacity to understand when I say, I urge you to choose your divine aspects as much as you can while the legacy of your particular cosmic fractal unwinds. So many of us still search for the bright beacons like you in the fog, and hail, and darkness of greed and ignorance. Shine on. Thank you to all who have and continue to inspire me. There are so many incredible artists out there, and it is you that motivate me to improve and continue my own craft. It's dark out here but I see you, and I appreciate what it took for you to get where you are. -NR
1 Comment
1/11/2023 11:58:40 am
Well said! I really like the proposal that all AI works become public domain immediately (except those that are to similar to existing protected works).
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Nicholas RodriguezArtist, designer, musician, writer, craftsman, nature geek... Archives
January 2025
Categories
All
|