DeviantArt released a controversial update DreamUp where third parties are allowed to works shared on the platform to train their AI. TL:DR: the conclusion of the drama.
https://twitter.com/DeviantArt/status/1591158900220379138
- DeviantArt
This tweet sums up my sentiment of the issue.
https://twitter.com/meganroseruiz/status/1591227731098103810
- meganroseruiz
When I read the announcement, damn, we really have to struggle to get nice things and keep the nice things huh?
I most likely wouldn’t be able to recognize my work’s input if the AI used it and comes up with a mixed and mashed up version for another prompt but hey, part of the output came from my input which I didn’t specifically consent to be used. Someone else may make money off the venture though. One could just be an artist solely building their career around AI art but using the works of several countless and unnamed artists to raise their name sounds like an easy route.
The harsh reality is that even with good skills, that’s no guarantee you’ll get the spotlight or be able to live off from your art skills. That’s why it’s not so foreign to have other part time jobs on top of being a freelance artist. Not only artists have to compete for attention online with other artists, now they have to compete against tools like AI art.
DeviantArt is one the top sites for Arts and Entertainment. Almost everyone I know that has started their art journey had encountered this site since the early 2000’s. I think of the place as a social media site specifically suited for artists. As an aspiring artist, setting up an account here felt like a prerequisite to get anywhere. It had several art groups to connect, art resources handed out for free by other community members, and became an information highway for digital art.
And DeviantArt’s response to the complaints:
https://twitter.com/DeviantArt/status/1591242211353858048
- DeviantArt
The comments under the tweet are also their own content and it gave me more insights on the issue.
Probably the closest thing to a compromise. The only ones that can’t opt out now are artists that are locked out of their accounts or dead. So they released another announcement that marks all works by default not cool for scraping by AI. Also clarified their official stance on the issue after hearing community feedback.
Just my opinion but 3rd party developers that try to teach their AI’s to create digital art would seek out more pools of data. And investors of the tech may put more incentives to allow art sites to do these practices at the expense of the artists.
Taken from their latest ToS number 24
Users acknowledge that by uploading Content to DeviantArt, third-parties may scrape or otherwise use their works without permission. DeviantArt provides no guarantees that third parties will not include certain Content in external data sources, or otherwise use a creator's work for Artificial Intelligence Purposes, even when such directives are present. By prohibiting such conduct, DeviantArt makes no guarantees that it will pursue each unauthorized use of the Service, and the owners of the works are responsible for policing their own works to the extent permitted by law.
There’s no stopping AI art. It’s a tech that once released, it would create a shift in the landscape in ways unforeseen much like when the typeset printing was introduced. It made the process of publishing more copies of the same books efficient at the expense of losing scribes and other personnel living off the industry. There’s another lengthy post about AI art I have in mind saved for the future.
When I first learned about the concept of AI art after seeing some users on Hive share their works here, I thought it was amazing that AI could conjure up the images and then it’s going to be easy for NFT artists to produce more content because of the tech. One thing that screamed at the back of my head was resistance to what the tech could do. I spent some hours trying to learn how to draw then get shown by someone that they can produce amazing visual works in a matter of seconds based on typing some prompts.
No doubt that AI art will have its own category and most likely out do traditional and digital works by artists in terms of efficiency for content production and style. But understanding this magic meant killing the magic. No matter how great the visuals an AI generated art looks, it’s just an output without a soul built upon the works of artists in learned from.
The fact that some people who aren’t into the art scene claim this is the tech that would replace artist just proves ignorance over the subject. AI art needs artists to be what it is because it requires the machine to learn from existing works.
If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time.