But they conveniently leave out that it costs money to do anything with AI. It’s more like “open to anyone with a credit card.” The vast majority of people don’t have computers powerful enough to run generative AI models locally, and even then, server farms with a billion GPUs will always produce better results
This means that people have to rely on corporate platforms where you buy tokens that you use to get pulls at the various AI slop slot machines, hoping you get something decent. The mechanics more closely resemble a gacha game than any kind of artistic process
By contrast, learning how to draw, animate or make 3D models costs nothing. There’s free tutorials and tools everywhere, and you can also just pirate commercial ones if you want
What’s being stolen when someone uses genAI to make a picture for personal use? In what way is it selfish?
It’s weird if someone acts like they’re ‘making art’, but it’s also harmless.
All of the art that was used to train generative AI was used without its creator’s permission, meaning they weren’t compensated for all of the years of work and study that went into creating it. Then all of that labour was repackaged into a product that corporations are selling at a premium, with none of the money going back to the people who made the creation of it possible. These companies have well admitted that they wouldn’t be able to make a profit if they had to actually pay all these artists for their work. Now obviously, that isn’t technically stealing, but neither is it harmless. I personally know several artists who’ve told me that work has dried up in the years since generative AI became popular, and who are upset that their own work was used to train the machines that are replacing them.
I feel like you can level these same arguments against piracy. I “steal” art without permission all the time; the sum of hours and hours of work and expertise, and I consume it all for free.
AI is going to fuck commercial artists and I’m opposed to that (though it’s a capitalism problem more than it’s an technology problem), but I’ll stand by the fact that an individual making goofy pictures for personal use that they’d never ever had paid for pre-ai is harmless and by no means “stealing”, because nothing is being stole. Same as why I don’t feel guilty downloading a movie that I probably wouldn’t have paid for and watched otherwise.
I mean, yeah, piracy is stealing. I thought most people were okay with it because it’s mostly done with games and movies made by huge corporations who’ve already paid their developers and actors, and thus you’re not actually stealing from artists. I’ve personally never understood the “I never would have bought and watched/played this anyway” argument, because here you are, watching/playing it. But also, I really don’t care if other people pirate stuff, people must have their reasons.
Maybe I’m just going hard on the whole anti generative AI thing because of my personal connection to and harm I see it causing to people I know. But on the whole, considering the environmental impact, the corporatization of the technology, the exploitation of artists, the killing of creativity/critical thought, and the absolutely gross techbro culture that’s spwaned out of it, I just thought more people on this site would be against generative AI in general.
piracy is not stealing, stealing deprives someone of something.
I’m opposed to how AI is going to interact with our economy, and hurt artists, but as I’ve said that’s an issue with capitalism far more than it’s an issue with the technology.
I understand the kneejerk reaction against it, but in my mind the tech is out the bag now and not going back in, so it feels meaningless to argue against its existence, especially along lines we as socialists otherwise don’t agree with, like on “stealing IP” or the “soul of art” or whatever.
As always we should advocate for the rights of workers. In a fairer economy, AI would just be a harmless toy if not a useful and productive tool.
“Hey man I need to see all your text and all your images you ever made.”
"“Why?”
“So I can make bad collage-copies of them and write shitty listicles.”
“I don’t want you to do that.”
“Too bad, you put your stuff somewhere I could see it so I already did it and you have no recourse now because the powerful people that made me are above copyright law.”
There is no personal use with this, because the AI was trained on everyone’s stolen information. That is the problem, not the fact that it can make a bad picture because that was done. If the AIs could actually make anything from whole cloth, then we’d be having a different debate, but that’s not what’s going on.
Nothing is being stolen. Copying isn’t stealing. I’m a communist, I don’t believe in IP.
Steal from corporations, not form people’s pantries you sick, disgusting fuck.
For real, do you not understand that the corpos are taking everyone’s…EVERYONE’S things and making them theirs, for these garbage bots? That there is a difference between stealing from an individual as opposed to a company? You are gleefully saying that theft of personal property is okay, so long as it’s the big boys in silicon valley doing it.
Sterling fucking socialist theory there, bucko!
And since you clearly need this explained more clearly: stealing from individual artists that honed a skill to the point they can make a living from it is bad, because you are stealing the livelihood from a fellow worker. Stealing form any individual is bad, actually. It really should not be hard to understand this, yet somehow…
Again, nothing is being stolen when an individual uses genAI for personal use.
Artists aren’t losing anything. Their stuff is being copied and regurgitated but they’ve lost nothing.
As I’ve said elsewhere in this thread, I’m absolutely also concerned with how AI is going to impact workers in the commercial art, but the argument that AI is ‘stealing’ is just nonsense for the same reason piracy isn’t stealing. We’re in agreement on the conclusion I think, I just think the argument is poor.