On the popular art site ArtStation various images are showing off ”No to AI generated images” messages as a result of last week’s controversy: Is AI stealing art?
For professional artists, especially those involved in entertainment industries like video games, ArtStation is possibly the most significant website on the entire internet. Because of this, users of the site are upset that AI-generated imagery is still allowed on the platform. Twitter user and senior character artist @3DanEder said It was ”beyond disrespectful” to include AI-generated art on the site.
Seeing AI art being featured on the main page of Artstation saddens me. I love playing with MJ as much as anyone else, but putting something that was generated using a prompt alongside artwork that took hundreds of hours and years of experience to make is beyond disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/4p2MLDbADD
— Dan Eder (@3DanEder) December 9, 2022
The firms in charge of owning and hosting that community should be concerned about AI technology since it is particularly concerning to a community that makes a living by making art. However, as of right now, ArtStation does not currently have any policies that explicitly prohibit the hosting or display of AI-generated imagery on the website. As a result, there have been numerous instances where images created by computers as opposed to humans have risen to the top of ArtStation’s “Explore” section, which is its most well-liked method of showcasing artists’ work.
The motto is ‘’No to AI generated images’’
Unsurprisingly, that is making a lot of people angry. In fact, during the past 24 hours, a large number of artists have started spamming their portfolios because they are so upset that the site allows AI-generated imagery. a demonstration started by costume designer Imogen Chayes and cartoonist Nicholas Kole. The identical picture, which originally belonged to Alexander Nanitchkov and reads “No To AI-Generated Images,” has been copied and pasted numerous times by different artists. As a result, at the time of writing, ArtStation’s top page looked full of ‘’No to AI generated images’’ logos.
Epic Games’ stance in the discussion
‘’ArtStation is a portfolio platform designed to elevate and celebrate originality powered by a community of artists. Users’ portfolios should only feature artwork that they create, and we encourage users to be transparent in the process. Our content guidelines are here.”
-the owners of ArtStation
Given the frequency of AI-generated imagery now on the site and the apparent lack of moderation involved in letting them stay up, that response is understandable, but Epic also claim they are working to improve the situation.
“Do not make any agreements with companies allowing them to scrape content on our website. If AI companies are doing this without permission and beyond purely academic use (where copyright fair use may apply), they may be infringing the rights of ArtStation creators.”
-Epic Games spokesman
However, the fact that ArtStation users’ portfolios have already been fed to these AIs and nothing will be done to stop AI-generated images from encroaching on a website that is supposed to be showcasing the best in human art in the short term despite the veiled legal threat being a possible indication that Epic isn’t quite as cool with the practice as it seems.
Twitter users accused some apps of stealing art
In light of Lensa AI’s meteoric rise and the expanding usage of AI tools for artistic creation, the ethics of producing images using models that are trained on other people’s work have come under fire.
Lauryn Ipsum contends that while the original avatars may have been produced by artificial intelligence, the smaller elements that went into their creation—color combinations, brushstrokes, textures, and particular styles—were appropriated from other artists without those artists’ knowledge or permission.
“Seeing these avatars hit me like a blow in the stomach. Ipsum said, “It’s like quick fashion for art. So, is Lensa AI plagiarizing art? Hell yeah, says Lauryn Ipsum.
I’m cropping these for privacy reasons/because I’m not trying to call out any one individual. These are all Lensa portraits where the mangled remains of an artist’s signature is still visible. That’s the remains of the signature of one of the multiple artists it stole from.
A 🧵 https://t.co/0lS4WHmQfW pic.twitter.com/7GfDXZ22s1
— Lauryn Ipsum (@LaurynIpsum) December 6, 2022
That covers our article on Artists’ revolt against AI. While the AI-generated art craze has taken the internet by storm for a long time, there has been a polarization in ideas on this subject. How about you? Do you also say ”No to AI generated images”? Especially recently, Lensa AI has been at the center of the controversy with topics of stealing art and NSFW content of it.
