The Concerning the Ethics of Training AI Models
StreetFighter 2077 — taking Streetfighter IP and combining it with the style of Cyberpunk 2077 concept art. As if both of these things aren’t protected IP created from thousands of hours of artist work.
Earlier this week I saw a quick reel from a friend in the Motion Design industry (which I think may have already been taken down?) that was poking fun of the dire-tone that artist can take when speaking about the ethical issues of AI. A tone used while voicing their concerns about the technology hurting their work and industry.
The video in question, which is a parody of an illustration tutorial, he begins (and this is all paraphrased of course):
‘First of all, I just want to mention that AI Art is ruining our industry.
Okay, with that said lets get started. The first step is to start pulling some reference, just go to Pinterest, just go anywhere and start pulling images to use in your work’
Of course the implication here is that pulling reference isn’t a new idea, that AI is using reference images to make new work just like any artist would. The post got me thinking and I typed up a response.
My Response off the cuff, now with links to support:
I mean I get the joke, artist of all types use references. Yes true. It’s normal for artists photographers and designers and directors to pull ref.
But imagine your 'YouName - Illustrator' and you've spent a decade making distinct style and building a healthy client roster.
And then 'CompanyAI' that does generative AI software, feeds your portfolio, along with many others, into their data set. To the point that you can type a prompt 'drawing of pokemon and trainer in style of YourName-Illustrator' and it producer a passable version of the thing rendered in your style. And CompanyAI gets a valuation of $200M on the back of the promise that they can sell a subscription service to clients that reliably recreates YourName-Illustrator style artwork after some simple prompting.
Ad campaigns are created 'CAR COMMERCIAL STYLE OF YOURNAME-ILLUS' And now the ad agency or vendors don't hire you, and they don't even hire another illustrator and tell that person 'okay on this job we want our car commercial but just completely ape YourName-Illus for the look'. (companies do this all the time as well, and hopefully there is at least some synthesis of the idea, rather than wholesale ripping of work, though both do happen)
They just use your style, you get nothing. And they never could have a viable product at all without training their algorithms on the available work you spent decades creating.
Now you don't have a job, other artists who would rip your work don't have a job... Some creative director or agency who can prompt might have a job. And all that money that used to keep food on your table just keeps stacking at the CEOs feet, as they're happy to save some money and get pro artist level work and not have to pay or work with artists.
I can see AI being used, if creatively, by artists as a tool to integrate into their other processes. I believe that can be possible and less ethically dubious. And generative AI seems it could be particularly helpful to directors and CDs writing decks, who can now visualize things very very specifically to help illustrate their vision before a job is won and designers and craftspeople are hired to execute the vision. That all makes sense.
But the models that these generative AI software are built on by just scraping actual art from actual artists with the express intention of cutting those artists out of the equation and that should be alarming.
I will be writing more about this. I think there are many facets to consider.
I think AI generative art and content generally isn’t going anywhere,
I think it can be used ethically or organically as a part of the creative process by artists and writers and directors, but I think there is also a big potential for abuse that is ethically questionable.
And there’s even a lot AI art that is just not that great. A lot of AI junk is just spreading across the internet here, appearing as it can as people come up with uses, and some of them are interesting, and many are not.
I’ll definitely get in to the topic of AI further, and have several other ideas to explore. Thinking about perspective or voice of a creator, thinking about the simple AI Gore just seeping into every part of media and the internet, how to support artists, are ethical AI usages possible and how, where AI art could be useful to exisiting artist, or creators that do not do visuals and can not and would not pay an illustrator for visual art; and on and on...
Stay tuned.