10/02/2024
Hi, it's me again, talking about ai again. So I know a lot of you have seen this post going around: https://gizmodo.com/famous-ai-artist-says-hes-losing-millions-of-dollars-from-people-stealing-his-work-2000505822?fbclid=IwY2xjawFqeXNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHa2jNM5owN0i0zf85fxwVin9ZWDscrJJ1bM3Pd1LiBq-9hMi0Fy3-5-cBQ_aem_AfrFA2TomQYcpMjH4-TOLQ
It really is what it says.
A lot of people have talked about how ai makes art accessible to the disabled, and that's been the big 'moral' standpoint. But I want you guys to stop and really look at this. This is a person who is using ai, who is not saying "I am disabled and this is my means of creating'. He's saying "I used this tool that is acknowledged to utilize artist's work, and now I am upset because *people are using what is produced by the tool the same way I am using the art that was illegally used to create this tool in the first place.*". And.. "IT IS COSTING ME MONEY".
That last part is the big kicker. It's the big point. He didn't care about copyright or the harm this tool was doing to actual artists, until it hit his bottom line. And then suddenly he understood WHAT copyright was for.
And he wants the protection copyright affords.
The thing is, in order for those protections to work and be valid, *his tool cannot exist*. At least not in its current form.
He is asking for the very thing that he is actively helping to destroy, and wanting it to only apply to him. Not to the artists who's careers and income he is hurting by utilizing this tool.
You can't have it both ways. Either the protection works and is used as intended, to safeguard the arts and the artists who create it so that we can *keep creating*. Or ... it doesn't exist and everyone suffers, including the people like him.
For something to have value, you have to value it. Respect it. I am not asking for people to suddenly dump millions of dollars onto artists. I'm not asking for people not to find a way to make an ai tool that utilizes art through actual real informed consent (though I am asking that htey find a way to do it that doesn't destroy our drinking water, our environment. The planet will be fine if we're all gone, there's no magical being that's going to fix this, there's only us).
I'm asking for people to realize the value of art. Of human input. Even if it's a dude painting with his p***s, it's still the creativity of humanity. Copyright is there to safeguard it, and also to encourage artists to think outside the box and to reach for what hasn't been done before. Not to homogenize all the previous ideas into a generic image. We are to reach for the stars and find out what's beyond them.
When it comes to disability, there are thousands of ways that disabled artists have created art while also working within the scope of their abilities. I am disabled. Some of you know me from my service dog zeus, or my service dog tucker (who took over for zeus when he retired). I had to give up pencil work because my arthritis made it too painful to use a pencil. I had to give up pen and ink because my tremors make it impossible for me to hold a steady line. I worked with the other mediums to find my happy place.
When ai first came out, I went and gave it a poke at midjourney to see exactly what it was. What I found was not a part of the creative process. What I found was part of the process I use when I write books, yes. Also part of the process I use when I google search for information. I did not find a tool to help me with my disability, if anything I found an incredible frustration because of how LITTLE it connected to my voice, and produced what my creativity came up with. It was not what it's being promoted as, no matter how much people claim it is. And as a disabled artist, it did not help me with my artistic expression.
Please. Stop buying into claims that this is to help people like me. It's not. I am not a voice for ai use. Stop and look at things like this guy. It's someone looking for money, realizing that violating copyright protections *hurts the artist*, and is blindly not paying attention to the irony of him demanding protections now (of his work in whole and being used for other works).
Please respect the value of art. Real art. Human creativity. Stop and go to an art museum and really look at the incredible things on the walls. Even if they're not to your taste, really look at them. Think about what the artist is trying to express to you, because I guarantee you they ALL are talking to you. Even if it's in a language you don't understand.
Please.
The guy who used Midjourney to create an award-winning piece of AI art demands copyright protections.
