Show transcript
Screenshot of a tumblr post by hbmmaster:
the framing of generative ai as ātheftā in popular discourse has really set us back so far like not only should we not consider copyright infringement theft we shouldnāt even consider generative ai copyright infringement
who do you think benefits from redefining ātheftā to include āmaking something indirectly derivative of something created by someone elseā? because I can assure you itās not artists
okay Iām going to mute this post, Iāll just say,
if your gut reaction to this is that you think this is a pro-ai post, that you think ānot theftā means ānot badā, I want you to think very carefully about what exactly ātheftā is to you and what it is about ai that you consider āstealingā.
do you also consider other derivative works to be āstealingā? (fanfiction, youtube poops, gifsets) if not, why not? whatās the difference? because if the difference is actually just āwell itās fine when a person does itā then you really should try to find a better way to articulate the problems you have with ai than just saying itās āstealing from artistsā.
I dislike ai too, Iām probably on your side. I just want people to stop shooting themselves in the foot by making anti-ai arguments that have broader anti-art implications. I believe in you. you can come up with a better argument than just calling it ātheftā.
AI art generation isnāt theft, itās the training thatās problematic. These companies are using artistsā work for free and without credit to generate massive amounts of profits, while simultaneously putting these artists out of work.
While Iām on this soapbox, making AI art doesnāt make you an artist any more than commissioning an art piece does. There is literally no difference between telling the AI what you want it to draw, and telling a human what you want them to draw. You are not an artist, you are a client.
Except humans are smart and can fill in the blanks of what you mean when you tell them to draw a picture. You donāt need any skill because the artist is skilled.
The slop generators are dumb af, massaging them to produce good results is definitely a skill. They arenāt good enough to fill in the blanks like a human artist and itās up to the prompt generator to convince it to draw something that doesnāt look like shit.
I will concede that you can be a skilled prompt generator. It is still not the same thing as producing art yourself.
I think itās art-adjacent, what we should find is that actual artists are going to be better at generating good prompts.
I donāt believe that last part is necessarily true. I looked into prompt wizardry a bit and it gets oddly complicated. Like trying to convince a monkeyās paw to actually fulfill your real wish with no bullshit.
It didnāt seem like the sort of stuff I or better artists I know would pick up naturally.
Convenience is king, if ai isnāt convenient to use and learn, people wonāt do it.