

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 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.