ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & ART

January 16, 2023
READ TIME:  11 minutes

If you've kept up with the news lately you've already heard about the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, especially in 2022. The technology has evolved to the point where so-called "deep fakes" virtually imitate any actress, actor, or politician, and AI-based software can output poetry, homework, marketing text, music, & even art and photography! Unfortunately, since computers aren't creative, many of these AI systems need to be trained using the original creations of human artists, which delves into the territory of copyright infringement and becomes otherwise problematic to say the least. Some of the developers involved have chosen to scour the internet for millions upon millions of image sources to inform their system's databases, and as a result, there are numerous cases where AI software outputs images in the same style or using the same exact elements of a specific artist's work or image! So you can see how certain artists are concerned about losing paid work due to this phenomenon or being associated with poor renditions of their unique art.

Of course, there are those who claim that the AI industry shouldn't be regulated (which makes you wonder if those individuals have any financial conflicts of interest that would compel them to say so). And it also seems that some of these developers intentionally sourced artwork without permission, believing that artists could be casually steamrolled and taken advantage of. How interesting.

I haven't been personally affected by AI training (…at least, that I know of), but I'm aware of various others who have been. I realize that as artists we're a motley group, ranging from classicly-trained musicians to break out garage-bands, from caricature artists to portrait artists for the rich & famous, from avant-garde sculptors to part-time crafters. And I know there are issues that we'll always disagree on. But it's important that we present a unified front when it concerns matters as important as these. In order to do my part, I'd like to provide the following recommendations:

1)  THE FIELD OF AI NEEDS REGULATION
I know some might consider this a selfish attempt on my part to call for regulation in an industry where I'm personally affected. And perhaps it is. But consider the fact that AI is not only affecting artists, but also replacing workers in white collar fields, such as lawyers, accountants, and even doctors. What would happen to an economy and to a culture as a whole if we eventually end up with mass layoffs & persistent unemployment? The consequences of such a dilemma could be nearly catastrophic for society. (Think about it. We'd be a people whose primary duty in life would be subservience to robots and, of course, our pet cats.) On another note, fortunately some voices are calling for restrictions on the use of AI to build autonomous military weapons, but others are instead demanding we press onward in order to be competitive in a dangerous world! Yet few people realize how dangerous artificial intelligence can potentially become.

The European Union is already planning to set regulations on the AI industry, but here in America I haven't seen much to address all that this technology can encompass and affect (…apart from the AI Bill of Rights, which may be a very small step in the right direction, but doesn't even have the force of law). It always seems technology can quickly outpace corresponding regulations, but it would be beneficial for everyone if Congress began taking a look at the ramifications of AI and how to address them.

2)  THE USE OF ARTISTIC WORK FOR AI TRAINING SHOULD BE OPT-IN, NOT OPT-OUT
I'm sure you've received credit card offers in the mail, promising amazing interest rates and fantastic rewards programs. At some point, all that unsolicited direct mail can become a troublesome nuisance, yet someone somewhere decided that consumers need to individually opt-out of receiving all those offers. It's highly likely there are lobbyists & unsavory groups behind that kind of thinking, and unfortunately, with regards to AI there's a similar type of mindset. (Consider the fact that venture capitalists are funding some of these companies to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Somebody is looking to get rich off of all this!)

However, tech companies & developers shouldn't be allowed to run roughshod over the intellectual property rights of artists, musicians, and writers. And "No access allowed" should be the default setting for permission to use a person's creative work to train AI systems. That means that artists of all types should have to OPT-IN if they eventually choose to assist developers, and not opt-out with one or half a dozen other companies.

As for how the no-access setting is actually accomplished would require a more technically astute mind than mine. It's common knowledge that spiders and bots often disregard Robots files & HTML header tags on individual websites, so perhaps the World Wide Web Consortium can propose another standard that must be followed. Or maybe a brilliant developer out there is already working on an all-stop code against AI-associated bots and mechanisms for websites. My temporary solution would be to require all Artificial Intelligence companies to provide the IP address they use for scraping in order for artists & others to add it to their permanent IP blocklist.

3)  ROYALTIES FOR ANY ARTIST WHOSE WORK IS USED TO TRAIN AI
A few of these AI developers have already admitted to scraping millions (even billions) of images to educate their software. True, not all of these companies offer the resulting output for sale, but even so, artists need to be financially compensated for the use of their work without permission. It was reported that the U.K. even plans to remove restrictions on the commercial use of output developed with the use of public data. But I'd like to see things move in the opposite direction instead. If developers have used an artist's work to train their AI systems without permission, then that company should pay all of those artists royalty fees as compensation. Lifetime royalty fees, to be more specific, since the artwork was integral to establishing the foundations of the system.

Some may consider this proposal to be over the top, but consider the fact that some legal experts have stated that whoever uses these AI-generated images for commercial purposes is wading into murky legal waters (since artists didn't give consent to the use of their work to train the AI and since the AI often outputs images that contain exact elements of the original artist work). Seems to me there's about to be an avalanche of lawsuits forthcoming. Not that I'm a big fan of that, but since most of these developers chose the low road on the path to their success, this middle ground alternative could potentially be a win-win for everyone involved. Artists receive financial compensation for the use of their work & sign off on image use permission, while AI companies can then offer the output of their systems to the public for commercial use without legal caveats.

Of course, this is a vast oversimplification of reality. There will always be artists who refuse to allow their art to be used for AI training, and some can never overlook the slight of being "trained" without their permission. But I'll leave others to hash out the interesting details of all this. What concerns me is the fact that some of these AI organizations seem bent on continuing down the same shameless path they initially started on, as I heard back in December that there was to be a new round of upcoming AI "training", presumably using the same tactics as before.

4)  THE RESPONSE FROM ARTISTS
With all the potentially detrimental consequences that AI can unleash on artists and their livelihoods, it makes you wonder about the steps we can take to protect ourselves and our work.

HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINED?  Some are looking to a specific website that allows you to determine whether or not your work has been used to train AI software. This HaveIBeenTrained site allows you to do a keyword search or upload your actual art to verify whether or not your work is found in the specified image databases. The site also reportedly allows you to opt your work out from future rounds of some AI software training.
Personally, I'm not truly convinced as to whether this website can be the final solution to the challenges of AI. First of all, as I already mentioned in my second point above, artists should have to opt-in to allowing their work to be used to train AI, not opt-out anywhere. Secondly, there are reportedly several smaller start-up AI companies in the formative stages. Will they also agree to abide by the opt-out choices expressed by artists on this site? Or will these start-ups completely disregard artists' preferences to disallow the use of their work?
And lastly, perhaps most importantly, I believe it's beneficial for people to know a little about the organization they're handing their information over to, which in this case would be Spawning.ai . It's important to note that the HaveIBeenTrained site lists Spawning.ai as an Incorporated entity. Whether they have a board of directors they report to or just a few founders, I'm not sure, since the Spawning.ai doesn't list a privacy policy or terms of use that I could find (although HaveIBeenTrained does include these). Please also note that Spawning.ai isn't a non-profit entity, but it's a corporation, and most corporations exist to make money in some way or another. While certain corporations often do pro-bono work or help communities in outstanding ways, don't get the idea that this is a non-profit organization solely dedicated to the well-being of artists. Finally, if you read the Question and Answer section on Spawning.ai's website, you'll find their response to a query about their beliefs on Copyright and Copyright Infringement. Their response is exactly as follows: "Copyright is an outdated system that is a bad fit for the AI era."
Sure, this is America, and you're free to have your own opinions, but let me remind artists everywhere that there are long-standing copyright laws in place in the U.S., as well as in other countries. In America, the existing copyright protections entitle artists to financial compensation in cases of copyright infringement of their work. In fact, current laws entitle artists to substantial financial compensation for copyright violations! So let me be clear, copyright and its protections aren't a "bad fit" for artists whose livelihood often depends on protecting their intellectual property. But for developers, CEOs, investors, and others connected with the AI industry, I can see why they would want to dismantle the current copyright protections in order to use the work of others to feed their AI engines for their own monetary gain.
I don't personally know those involved in Spawning.ai and HaveIBeenTrained, and I'm sure they're great people. (One of Spawning.ai's art projects even proposes a profit-sharing structure for those who assist in training their AI.) And I'm not here to dictate to other artists what to do in this matter. All I ask is that you consider Spawning.ai's views towards copyright, and ask yourself if their current perspectives & future goals on artificial intelligence align with yours as an artist. And consider all this before you submit your e-mail to an ever-growing database of artists.

PROTECTING YOUR PERSONAL WEBSITE   It's a little difficult providing technical measures that artists can implement on their own websites to help protect their work. As I wrote last week, there are no clear regulations from Congress or even coding standards in place that must be followed in this regard. However, I have noted a few small procedures that may possibly assist in preventing your work from being used to train AI. (Notice I used the word "possibly". There are an ever-increasing number of AI companies with different standards and methods of capture. Also, it's quite likely that tomorrow some AI organization may code their database searching software to override everything I'm about to recommend, and all these tips will be rendered useless. Consequently, the following recommendations are provided "as is", with no guarantee of prevention of AI training.)
A. Image Alt Tags  One image database used for potential AI training has been noted to eliminate images with HTML Alt tags that have zero characters or have less than five characters. So it may help to go through all the images you've included in your site and remove the image alt tags to increase the chances that your images will be dropped out. Two drawbacks to this approach: 1) You can basically only do this if you've created and coded your own art website. If you're using a portfolio website to upload your work, Alt tags are usually automatically added and I'm not sure whether or not they can be removed. 2) Removing Alt tags for your images renders your site less user-friendly for a visually impaired audience visiting your site with a screen reader.
B. Watermark your Images  Watermarked images were placed in a separate category in an image database, and while I don't know if they're actually removed from consideration, it appears to me that AI systems don't take too kindly to heavily watermarked images for their training. In any case, it's usually a good idea to add a watermark to your online art images.
C. HTML header tags  It was reported that Deviant Art was adding the HTML header tags <noai> and <noimageai> to certain pages on their site, signifying to any artificial intelligence crawlers & such that those pages are not to be used to train AI systems. (Again, there is currently no standard from the W3C that must be followed, so it may or may not be worth adding that code to the pages on your website.) Any AI system that ignored these preferences would be in violation to Deviant Art's terms of use. Which brings me to my next point…
D. Update your Terms of Use  All the previous measures I recommended can likely be circumvented in some way or another. So perhaps the best protective measure you can take is to consult a lawyer well-versed in intellectual property law to assist you in updating your website's Terms of Use to clearly prohibit the use of any of your text, images, or music for AI training. A lawyer can also inform you what your legal options would be against those who violate your terms of use.

DON'T STOP CREATING ART  I realize some may consider me an alarmist when I take so much time to address a topic such as artificial intelligence. But my intention is to offer all these proposals for change & prevention in these current stages of AI, before it increments exponentially again, far beyond our control and grasp.
One writer & artist mentioned that human interaction is the key for artists to ensure they stay relevant in an AI-influenced world, to which I completely agree. The best portraits and the best fashion photos are the ones that emerge from a unique interaction between a photographer and his clients. But I'll take his advice a step further and say that artists can differentiate themselves with stellar customer service. In a society where most retail stores have forgotten what it means to put customers first, artists can leap to the forefront by emphasizing their clients' needs and customizing the options available to them. Of course, there will always be those clients who will choose to buy the cheapest AI art option available to them, but there's still wisdom in the old sales adage that customers are more apt to buy from people they like.
And I realize there are artists whose work has been appropriated by AI without their permission and, as a result, are completely disillusioned & unsure about what their next steps should be. To them I say, keep creating art. Keep living out loud with that creative spirit you've been endowed with. The world needs artists more than ever now. Not soulless output from mindless software, but real art from artists who live and bleed heart-throbbing music, incredible dance choreography, masterful brush strokes, or hyper-realistic prose that can move an audience to tears or evoke a speechless sense of wonder from the most callous heart. Yes, take steps to protect your work from misappropriation by AI and keep standing up for the rights of artists around the world. But don't stop making art, lest we become a bland planet reliant on machines to inspire us. Instead, let's show the world the value of human creativity and the impact that art can have on future generations.

This is really an extensive topic, and I've hardly even scratched the surface of it, since I'm only writing some of the ideas I've been contemplating over the past weekend. As I believe we'll be hearing much more about Artificial Intelligence in days to come, I'll likely revisit this subject in the future.

[The recent additions (excluding grammatical corrections, etc.,) to this article have been highlighted briefly in orange and were posted on January 24, 2023.]