Ever been to Dragon Con? I will be sincere, I have never myself. However from what I’ve heard, it is some of the superb celebrations of nerd tradition on the planet. Each Labor Day weekend, Atlanta transforms right into a carnival of comedian books, sci-fi, fantasy, and every part in between. So hopefully not the type of place the place it’s worthwhile to be clued up on spot AI artwork.
We’re speaking 80,000-plus followers taking up the downtown lodges, dressed as every part from Snow White to Stormtroopers, queuing for panels and attempting to find that good little bit of fan artwork.
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The fightback begins right here
This yr, it was the centre for one thing else too. A fightback towards the AI artwork plague that is been consuming away at inventive communities all through the 2020s.
In case you missed it (since you’d do not spent all of your time on social media and really have a life), this is what occurred. A vendor bought the boot in dramatic vogue, with police escort and every part, for promoting AI-generated artwork while pretending it was their unique handiwork.
The opposite artists cheered because the fraudster was marched out. And after I examine it, I cheered a bit inside too. As a result of Dragon Con did not simply make a coverage; they really enforced it. They investigated, discovered the seller wanting, and confirmed them the door. Simply correctly.
However this is not nearly one chancer getting their comeuppance. It is concerning the inventive business lastly saying “sufficient” to the AI artwork explosion that is been consuming away at our incomes.
For too lengthy, we have watched billionaires tech bros discuss “disrupting” the inventive industries, while coaching their machine-learning software program on thousands and thousands of artists’ works with out permission. They’ve offered us this notion that AI artwork is “democratising creativity” when what they actually imply is “changing human creativity with low cost, soulless imitations”.
And because the Dragon Con incident highlights, each AI-generated piece offered as “unique artwork” is not simply mental theft; it is taking cash out of artists’ pockets. We’re speaking about actual individuals making an attempt to make lease, feed households, and construct careers doing one thing they love and are literally good at.
On this mild, these cheers weren’t simply schadenfreude: they have been aid. Reduction that somebody is lastly taking artists’ issues severely. And it is spreading. Galaxy Con, as an illustration, instantly introduced their very own ban on AI art work after seeing how Dragon Con dealt with issues.
In fact, this is not going to cease AI artwork from being made, or offered on-line. However it’s gently encouraging that a minimum of in artists’ personal areas, corresponding to comedian artwork conventions, the tide is beginning to flip.
