Artists Take Action to Safeguard Their Work from Generative AI
Artists use tools like Glaze and Nightshade to shield their work from generative AI. These tools manipulate graphics to confound AI algorithms and prevent unauthorised use. Lawsuits and regulations are crucial, but lesser AI players may not comply, making scrambling tools necessary.
With the growth of image-generating AI, artists are fighting back with litigation, public comments, and, more recently, ingenious programmes designed to protect their work from unlawful usage.
One such programme is Glaze, created by University of Chicago academics. Glaze serves as a secret defence mechanism, concealing the artist's style and shielding the artwork from generative AI. It subtly transforms the artwork, giving it the appearance of a different art style than AI algorithms. Another programme, Nightshade, takes a more aggressive approach, confusing AI training models about an image's substance. These solutions seek to give a technical solution to counteract the "malicious" usage of AI models while safeguarding artists' rights.
However, the inventors of Glaze and Nightshade admit that their tools are not a complete answer, but rather a safety net in the absence of restrictions. While larger tech companies may be swayed by lawsuits and government rules, smaller AI players outside the United States may not follow suit. In such instances, scrambling tools can still be useful.
Karla Ortiz, a San Francisco-based artist and the first to publicly employ Glaze, underlines the significance of consent at the convergence of art and AI. She believes it is unjust to replicate artists' unique voices and utilise their work without permission. Ortiz sees tools like Glaze as crucial for artists to exist online and protect their creations.
Ortiz feels that technology like Glaze is critical for protecting artists' rights and preventing digital companies from claiming ownership of their work.
While anti-AI techniques such as Glaze offer some protection by making it more difficult for AI to copy an artist's style, experts warn that they are not perfect. As AI models mature, they may become increasingly resistant to these tools. However, these tools are an important first step in addressing concerns about their usefulness and enhancing them.
Renato Roldan, an artist who works with Glaze, is concerned about the impact of AI-generated art on the business. He believes that AI-created art is a diluted form of human-created art and is concerned about the paradigm shift in how art is consumed and produced. Roldan also emphasises the negative repercussions of unregulated AI, which makes it difficult for new artists to break into the sector because they must compete with created art.
Artists are using tools like Glaze and Nightshade to protect their work from generative AI.
These tools alter images to confuse AI algorithms and prevent unauthorized use.
Lawsuits and regulations are important, but smaller AI players may not comply, making scrambling tools essential.
Source: AP NEWS