How are all of you staying creative with the looming threat of AI?

MarcRobinson

@ArtistErin I love the passionate and human way you think about what we do. I live in hope.

ArtistErin

@MarcRobinson It feels better to stay in hope and trusting that.

davidhohn

@kirsten-mcg Glad to see this discussion happening here!

I've gone pretty far down this rabbit hole and would like to offer some additional data points:

The US Copyright office granted copyright protection to an Ai generated comic book images in September 2022. Copyright office revoked that protection in Nov.
Midjourney Ai (the program/company used) has offered to help in the appeal.
https://aibusiness.com/ml/ai-generated-comic-book-loses-copyright-protection

Adobe has signaled that it is supporting Ai images/content.

My takeaway: There is serious money and significant corporate influence getting behind making Ai images, Ai stories, etc. "the norm".

Tor Books used a stock illustration Ai image as a book cover -- got caught -- and is now trying to pretend they didn't know it was an Ai image.
https://gizmodo.com/tor-book-ai-art-cover-christopher-paolini-fractalverse-1849904058

My takeaway:
I don't believe Tor was unaware that they had an Ai image. You can see from a comparison of the two images that at some point a Tor in-house designer added the spaceman's second leg (the one that was missing from the Ai image)
No, Tor knows that Ai is a hot-button issue right now and they are trying to have it both ways. Get the cheapest, fastest (and I'll admit pretty-good) art they can while also desperately holding on to their reputation as an "illustrator-friendly" publisher. I would guess that Tor Books are anticipating that Ai images become a "tolerated norm" for book covers in the same way stock photos and stock illustrations have.

Ammar Reshi wrote and published a picture book over a 72 hour weekend (note that this book is currently ranked 10,697 on Amazon -- which means it is actively selling quite well)
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisstokelwalker/tech-worker-ai-childrens-book-angers-illustrators

My takeaway: Don't think that any illustration niche or field is immune to Ai. These companies have huge financial incentive to make their algorithms more and more customizable.

When 3PP discussed Ai a just a few months ago it was a curiosity, and maybe a potential tool for creatives.
Now, less than a year later, it is actively targeting working illustrators and infringing their available body of work with the goal of mimicking that art style on-demand by clients and for profit.

All this could seem quite depressing until you realize that this is NOT inevitable. In fact the current state of Ai images is a result of the largest and most significant and willful copyright infringement ever.

Rather than making this post a novel I'll stop here -- but I'm happy to discuss further. It's a nuanced topic.

HOW TO TAKE ACTION -- and as a creative industry I believe we MUST take action -- have a look at the campaign link below.
I just donated to this effort. Check it out and see if you agree with the aims:
https://gofund.me/2df3dc07

kirsten-mcg

@danielerossi I've had this same sense of loss when I started working digitally. I love it. It's really fun! But I also miss traditional and end up going back to it quite a bit. But I find myself trying to tap my page with my 2 fingers a lot to undo lol! Maybe in the future all us illustrators will become art therapists. The world is going to need that with more and more digital things taking over our lives! I feel like traditional art especially has such a grounding and therapeutic effect.

kirsten-mcg

@MarcRobinson Sorry to know that you're going through this too. But it does help me to know that other people are struggling with this same thing. It makes it less lonely. And it is really beautiful how we've been able to come together as artists and encourage each other, even if it is just to acknowledge the pain and worry. I think the uncertainty of all this is one of the hardest parts. We can make all the predictions we want, but non of us really knows what's going to happen.

kirsten-mcg

@ArtistErin I've had my share of tumbles and bumps in life too, and like you, looking back, I'm starting to see how they pushed me to a place where I am happier, or set me up on a road that would lead me closer to finding what I'm really in the world to do. I loved what you said about getting really good about being you. I think i need to focus more on that. Decide what it is I'm trying to say and get really good at that...whether or not it leads to making a living from doing what i love.

kirsten-mcg

@NessIllustration I needed to see this!!!

kirsten-mcg

@NessIllustration I agree that for the short term we are safe. I just worry about what will happen if these companies are allowed to develop other generators in an "ethical" way (using copyright free images). We really are living in the "wild west of AI." It's a scary world to be sure!

kirsten-mcg

@davidhohn thanks for sharing what you've learned. I wasn't aware of the book cover used by Tor. If AI continues to take hold I'm afraid those will be one of the first jobs illustrators will get pushed out of. And thank you for sharing the link! I've been wondering how I can really help, other than just trying to raise awareness.

kirsten-mcg

I just read the BuzzFeed article @davidhohn posted about the AI picture book created by Ammar Reshi. I've got to say that while I think we need to stand up for ourselves as artist, I am disappointed that some people stooped to sending him "death threats and messages encouraging self-harm." We've got to be civil and encourage others to do so too! Being mean isn't going to help us.

NessIllustration

@kirsten-mcg If (or when) they develop an AI with copyright free sources, it will really become the tool that AI enthusiasts claim that it is. The AI will have a very specific "look" from being only able to access limited images.

Currently, one of the scariest things about AI is that people can use the name of an artists and feed their art in the AI to mimic their style. We've seen stories of artists getting their work replicated and even sold using their name.

With an ethically sourced AI, artists can decide if they want to be part of the dataset or not (I imagine, LOTS will opt out) which means our unique styles will be protected. That way, we can ensure clients still have to come to US for our unique style.

Jean Watson

@davidhohn said in How are all of you staying creative with the looming threat of AI?:

In fact the current state of Ai images is a result of the largest and most significant and willful copyright infringement ever.

Thanks very much for your input, David. I completely agree. Years ago my work involved obtaining copyright permissions for a publisher. It's pretty astounding that this art theft/copyright infringement has occurred as widely and quickly as it has. I guess legislation is always behind what's actually happening and in this case the development of Ai generated images has been particularly fast.

danielerossi

@MarcRobinson I think it’s best we learn to how to use these AI tools for the sole purpose of being able to keep ourselves marketable (if commercial art is where we want to go) and also to understand where the industry is going. Like when all the print designers at my work were being let go because they refused to learn web. Only two years ago I had to learn Squarespace, Canva, Webflow and similar apps on the job because they were faster than what I had to do with Adobe tools and code.

Just last night I was working on a book cover (not illustrative) and was doing some intense photoshopping of a photograph. It took me about 4 or 5 hours (A photo of a magnolia tree I took in my front yard where I’d like to remove the houses and cars behind the tree). I’m not happy with the result and found myself thinking “I wonder if I can build this in AI?”. If I can manage to create it then comes my next question — am I ripping off someone’s copyright? How would I know?

danielerossi

@kirsten-mcg I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up being right. That’s what I got into with my illustration work. Long story short: I’ve been drawing comics about stuttering featuring a fox character I created. I was asked at one point to give a cartooning class to kids at a stuttering conference. Then returned year after year. And that grew into an area of interest for me

So yes, a few jobs will be lost as others have already mentioned, however, we still have lots of room to think further outside the box.

davidhohn

@NessIllustration This is very much my argument for those illustrators who have already thrown in the (metaphorical) towel and started looking at other careers.

An Ai machine using a dataset of images from 70+ years ago will be very different than one using images made a few hours ago.

kirsten-mcg

@NessIllustration If they were to build an AI like this I would probably even use it! Think of how much time it could save when you need a reference of something just to be able to type in what you are looking for and get the reference you need with just a few clicks. I think a tool like this could be a huge help to artists without being a threat to them.

davidhohn

@Jean-Watson I'm reminded of a silicon valley quote attributed to (I think) Zuckerberg "Move fast and break things"

And things are certainly cracking -- I don't think broken yet -- but the arts community needs to move even faster.

The question that should be raised was it willful? I would argue that it was. That these companies knew and understood exactly what they were doing. They hoped that no one would notice until it was too late.

davidhohn

@kirsten-mcg

If you can afford anything for the Concept Art Association Washington DC lobbying efforts that's great.

But raising awareness is just as vital! Theres a ton of misinformation out there. Even convincing one other artist friend they should form an opinion can have an exponential effect.

And just as important are the arts institutions. Schools, colleges and Universities professional orginizations and companies who have a vested interest in maintaining a robust freelance creative community.

Contact your alma matter, your alumni groups, SCBWI. Ask them what specifically they are doing about this issue.

Fun fact: SCBWI receives (conservatively) tens of thousands of dollars in "Reprographic Royalties" (google it or let me know if you'd like me post more details). These funds are given with the very specific intention of bettering the entire picture book community, regardless of whether you are an SCBWI member or not. I know I'd like to see SCBWI spearheading an effort to correct how Ai companies have harmed the artistic community.

kirsten-mcg

@davidhohn I didn't know that about SCBWI. They have been pretty quiet on the matter so far. I am a member, so I will definitely contact them. And I would be interested in learning more about these "Reprographic royalties." And posting them here would make sure anyone else on this thread has access too.

Jean Watson

Do any Australians here know what the creative industry in Australia is doing to push back? It's clearly a global issue but I'd be interested if someone knows more about what's happening in Australia and which groups are doing what.

I'll try and find out.