How AI is stealing your art

Today I want to take a closer look at AI or machine learning from the perspective of an artist, and after taking a look at what this technology is and how it works and how it changes the creative community, I'm going to tell you how AI stole my own art and how I think about the entire topic as an illustrator.
Lately, there's been a lot of talk about AI generated art and texts on the internet, and it has caused a lot of discussion in the creative community. AI generators are using artworks and texts and all kinds of intellectual property to generate new versions of it - without the consent of the human creators. It is already changing our culture and raises a lot of questions about the value of creating any kind of art.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:06 What is AI
2:22 How does AI work
3:34 The current limitations of AI
7:18 How AI is changing the Creative Industry
13:38 Who is funding and creating AI tools?
14:37 How I found out that an AI had stolen my art
16:46 How you can remove your art from AI training datasets
18:20 Can we protect our images and the copyright on them?
Full blog post with all sources and links:
juliabausenhardt.com/how-ai-i...
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[@s-o-o-z]

Many don't realize that these AI image generators are not being trained on legally obtained artwork, their creators have instead opted to ignore copyright laws and employ wholesale internet scraping. Very sad. Thank you for addressing this topic.

[@larrymarshall9454]

It seems there is a blatant disregard on the part of AI creators that if you eliminate things like copyright and steal the IP of those creating it, the fodder being used by the technologies will disappear. Worse, those AI technologies will start using AI technology products as their learning substrate, creating nonsense, or at least a very boring, homogeneous world. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this Julia. There are times when I think that life is too short to deal with the internet and the games being played these days.

[@NatureSketchbook]

They're actually planning for this, this was the part about the watermarks: to avoid nonsense, the AI output will be marked as such (to avoid training AI on AI output), but I suspect that if journalists or teachers want to have access to those detection services, they'll have to shell out some $$$. I too find the internet an endless source of frustration these days, although in some small corners it's still pretty awesome. Weird times!

[@leticiatoraci9855]

It is good to confirm what I was thinking before, that the internet is not reliable for checked information anymore.

[@NatureSketchbook]

It's something I have noticed a few times, but I think it's going to get much worse - I hope I'm wrong.

[@ChristopherHemsworthCreative]

I'm glad you tackled this topic. As an artist I find it very depressing, to be honest. But a "head-in-the-sand" approach won't help me, I know. It's just such a struggle for me (and has been my whole life, but more so recently) to feel like there is any point in creating anymore in this world. Also yeah I saw that Nick Cave piece and he hit the nail on the head too. Anyways thanks Julia you are a comforting stable voice in the sea of madness that is the World Wide Web. 😍

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thank you! Yeah, and Nick Cave is the best. :)

[@mildlyangryjohnny]

Thank you. You're doing good work. I have learned alot from watching your videos on the perils of the working artist. This one in particular both amazing in depth and quality of information but also in the horror it describes. Thank you.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thanks! :)

[@pellier08]

Just like photography a few years ago with the arrival of smartphones most photographers lost their job unless they turned to teaching. It's the same with art and designer. The best way to survive and make money is to teach. It's frustrating but at the same time it's good to know that for each problem there is a solution.

[@MandyvanGoeije]

Oh Julia, how I'd like to just all sit around a large table in the Kneipe and discuss this topic. My main question on this theme is: will there be a place for artists in the future and if so, how or where? The second question I have is: should we post our work online anymore? I know that to have an audience, we must be findable, but we are giving our work away at the moment. I haven't put any piece of serious art work online anymore for months. Not that sites like instagram shows it either, so nothing much is lost for me there. But I find myself holding on to my precious work. Maybe what we publish online should be process only, with little peeks here and there, but never any full images anymore. Instead, resort to the old ways of galleries and shows. Of course, the sickening part about that is that there will only be a place for very few artists and that we strongly need networks again that many of us don't have, especially when we've worked online for the past years. So, this is going to hurt and I'm upset about it. At the same time - not diminishing my concerns or objections - SO many professions are going to be in trouble - even professions like lawyers, surgeons, medical specialists, car mechanics. Artists are not the only ones. Extremely factual tasks can easily be taken over by AI and more and more robotics are replacing human beings. In the long run, I wonder what we will be supposed to do on this planet anymore, but that's ground for good and frightening science fiction. Until then we'll find ourselves in a time in which we have to insist on discussing the value of the human aspect. I suspect there will always be an audience for human-made art. And I also think that this AI development - because, as you said it is cluttering up the internet and making it unusable - is going to devaluate the internet and thus, itself and that more and more people will be put off by it, longing for the human touch. Not just in art, but also in customer service, in hospitals, care homes, etc. The human life can only find connection in an embodied world, a world of the senses and we need to interconnect in order to feel grounded and whole. Our society is seriously sick at the moment and AI is not going to make that better. It's an ever harder push on the analytical and material side of liberal growth and the hunger for power. At some point, something in society's gotta give. I think people like us - artists, sensitive people, are the canaries in the mines. Around us people still shrug their shoulders. But I don't think they will be doing so for much longer as fewer and fewer people will be able to hold their jobs and feel secure anymore. See? This topic requires a large round table in the Kneipe. Can't we do a group zoom about this? (Ironically, considering the topic :-) )

[@NatureSketchbook]

Yes, in times like these I would love to have a big round table with all artists I know and discuss this. :) As far as posting our work online - I've had the same thoughts, although for now I can't see a way around it, since showing my work publicly online is part of my business - I don't know how else a solution could work. Only publishing the process is an interesting thought, but will this be accepted by audiences, etc? I too think that actually building real connections and offline networks is a sensible step - it always is, because you can interact with people on such a different level directly. The problem I see with these technologies is that they're controlled by people who don't care for society, or for connections, or for us finding meaning in our work, and until we take away power and influence from those companies and people, the world isn't really going to change. And they have amassed a lot of influence by now. We are seeing how Silicon Valley destroys whole industries and job markets without hesitation, and we can't really do a lot besides speaking up, warning people, boycotting their products. And you're right, most other people don't care, and don't know that they should care, and it makes one feel hopeless and cynical.

[@olwynnsay237]

As an illustrator this depressed me but thank goodness we still have libraries for real information. I believe traditional artist's work, in particular, will stand out against AI which tends to be flat and samey at the moment.

[@Cynthia.B]

Your bird painting turned out so wonderful! It was lovely to see all the steps you took to create him. This was a lot of technical info, but I think I understood most of it. It's sad about AI and theft, and I hope you can protect your work as an artist. I looked at your website and your courses. I'm planning to sign up for at least one or more; I just have to choose which one to start with! 😃 I'm sure I need the one for layouts and composition for Nature Journal pages. Thank you for this information and all of your videos. ❤️

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thank you Cynthia! I know it's a lot of techno babble. I'm currently less concerned about my own work - I'm not one of those artists whose entire job has been taken away by AI, I mainly teach these days. But for a lot of background artists in movies and games, editorial illustrators, book covers illustrators it looks pretty dire. And of course the ethical aspect is that the AI was trained without consent from any of us. We live in weird times. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy my courses, I know there so many by now that it can be hard to choose. The layout course was a fun one to make!

[@tlembro]

Thank you so much! I wish there was more on this subject out there. I am no great artist…..but I do draw and paint. My granddaughter is a wonderful artist at 14 and wants to become an illustrator. I see her giving up her pencils, brushes, and paints for the iPad and I am so sad! I truly believe it is a creativity KILLER! I am encouraging her to NEVER let go of her skills to draw and paint! AI has its place but it cannot replace the human touch!

[@NatureSketchbook]

I'm not sure if you meant she is doing other things on the iPad or using it creatively. Cause you can make amazing art on an iPad, there are great drawing and painting apps for it. I think it can't hurt to keep practicing traditionally though.

[@wildartbyoldie]

Thank you for this well put together and informative video. Though terrifying, as artists it is critical that we educate each other on these changes with technology and how we, as creatives, can fight injustice and destruction.

[@nickyjamesonarttv]

Excellent video Julia. I have been following this topic closely and I agree with all your points here. Along with scraping our art, the entrance of ChatGpt makes me already question stuff I read online. I shared your video in my artist groups that are also following this topics. I am pleased that a court case is being brought and I hope there will be more of them.

[@NatureSketchbook]

I hope for more court cases, too. Thanks for sharing the video, I really appreciate it!

[@Chantel99]

Thanks for making this! I stumbled across your blog, found the link to this video, and completely agree. Although I don't think the corporations behind the A.I technology will stop anytime soon, I'm glad more people are pointing this stuff out and talking about it.

[@amoraslucha]

ai in a capitalistic society would be created to work thru loopholes to profit off others without fair compensation. there’s intentional engineering decisions happening behind ai so i appreciate you explaining that for sure

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thanks! Yes, big tech has exploited these loopholes for the past decades, and now any attempt at regulation seems like a mostly futile adventure. But not so futile that I will shut up about it. ;)

[@paulinabm_]

Sadly, I’ve seen this coming years ago. Tech only cares to create more and faster without any purpose other than to make more money and spend less. I work in tech (not in unethical companies, my focus is to make science accessible to people with disabilities) but I get to see it being in a the field and meeting tech people from all over. Something I read years ago, about using words from the natural world ( cloud, tweet, wall, etc) was warning us this was going to be a problem. Now we see it. People think AI is sentient and learns and thinks… I’m sad to see that the tech that was to bring knowledge to humanity has lead to more ignorance. But, I still hope that we will hit bottom soon and change. Leave this superficial egocentric way of life, recover our ethical and moral values, stop putting ourselves above everyone else, stop seeing sacrifice as a bad word. And sacrifice cheap for handmade, sacrifice fast for quality and ethical made, we as consumers hold the key to change, we need to take responsibility for our own education. Yes life is tough. But my grandfather who had to work since he was a child to be able to eat, who had to quit school around 9 years old y to help feed his family is now at 91 years old the wisest person I know. Why? He tough (tough? English is not my first language) himself, he looked for opportunities to learn, he prioritize his values, he made sure all of his daughters got education in an era women not commonly worked or go to college. He never look to got rich, he focus on doing the right thing in his work, be the best he could be, do right by his family and community. There is HOPE FOR ARTIST, art and humanity. Our creativity will beat the mediocrity of the mediocre man made machine. When? I do not know. But life is worth living still, and so is art. This challenge will cost us, but we will innovate. They will try to bury us, but they do not know we are seeds. We’ll only grow… hello from México ❤

[@NatureSketchbook]

At this point I don't see a scenario that can turn all of this around, if the necessary changes have to come from the consumer, or from individuals. We need clear political decisions and legislation about these technologies, and the companies behind them. What we can do as individuals is putting pressure on our governments to actually go through with this.

[@barblallier9413]

I agree, only when people quit living in an instantly fulfilled life and accept difficulties as ways to learn,,then we will be better off. I probably won't live to see it, but as an old grandma, I'm grateful for difficulties I had to allow me to accept the mess the world is in,,in many ways. Thanks for this important info, Julia

[@Martlin]

The fruits of our labor have been stolen for a very long time. I was a transcriptionist for many years making a decent living, but that changed overnight with speech recognition software. It saddens me that artists are now facing this same type of scenario.

[@MandyvanGoeije]

Julia, when I woke up this morning, something sprang to mind. I studied law a long time ago. And I suddenly wondered....by following the procedure of extracting your work from AI training there might be 2 very different legal consequences: 1. Maybe it is wise to follow the procedure and at least give off a signal that you do NOT want your work to be used for AI training as it is a breach of your copyright. In that case, perhaps in future circumstances it is good to have done so. But there is a second possibility that is not fair, but may legally be the case: 2. By stepping into the one-sided imposed procedure of extracting your work from AI training one by one, you may automatically legally comply with their practices, even when there is no mention of that in the procedure. Following procedure can still be taken as an agreement. I am not saying this to worry you or say that maybe you did something wrong, but for anyone considering this step it is worth looking into it further before you act. I did a quick search and haven't found anything valuable yet, but since the damage is already done thus far, I'm going to give it a little more time. I will try to protect my website from crawling and I am also strongly reconsidering how I post images of my work.

[@garybloomfield4252]

Great discussion; thank you for talking about this issue! I am also an illustrator, and have been following this AI art infestation with some alarm. As copyright is the lifeblood of an artist, this is going to be an interesting fight. Perhaps original art (pigment versus pixel, as I like to put it) may become more in demand as a result of this, but that still doesn't address copyright violation.

[@margretmartin7572]

Thank you Julia, great commentary! I don’t understand it all but I know and believe that most search engines and the media have been bought and is corrupted. Very difficult these days to find the truth. I love your woodpecker! Does your bird course teach this? Thank you again! 💗

[@NatureSketchbook]

Thank you Margret! Well, I wouldn't say search engines have been bought, because it's the companies behind them who put out technology like this. Since we depend on this technology world-wide, it's nearly impossible to avoid it. As for media, the vast majority haven't been "bought" I think, but they're struggling to stay afloat and independent sources of high-quality journalism in an age of misinformation. It's all a mess. Anyway, yes my bird course teaches the entire process to do sketches like this. :-)

[@roksannastephens4375]

Thank you Julia for the wealth of knowledge that I knew very little about. On your Patreon, the levels all read the same for what one receives. Are there differences of things for each level?

[@NatureSketchbook]

At the moment, all the tiers are the same. I'm still dealing with some side effects from Covid and can't produce a lot of extra things, and I'd like to keep most of the things I make freely accessible somehow. But I'm sure it'll evolve over time. :-)

[@roksannastephens4375]

@@NatureSketchbook Oh ok, thank you for clarifying that for me. May God continue to heal your after-effects of Covid. Thank you again for much needed insigthful video.

[@GribenPige]

Hi, what is the webadress where you can check if your images have been scraped?

[@NatureSketchbook]

It's haveibeentrained.com You will need to make an account to use it. I have mentioned more sources on my blog post, linked above. :-)

[@razzleberrycrow]

OH my god! I've been saying this for over a year now! AI does not understand basic anatomy!!! I've been writing and writing about it, but sadly the only ones who seem concerned are other artists. I have many Facebook friends who continue to share AI generated images. I refuse to call them "art" because they are not. AI is an imposter. It is cold, sterile, lacks emotion and passion. Real, honest to goodness artists, like myself, create art over hours if not days. We put all our passion, soul and every part of our being into each drawing, each brushstroke, every thought and choice we use to create our beautiful real art. Then comes along someone who wants to "draw like..." or "write like..." or "make music like..." All fill in the blanks...NO! These people do not understand, or maybe they just don't care that they are infringing on our copyrights! I've hear the argument that some people who can't draw are happy because now all of a sudden, they're "artists." Wrong! They are not artists. I would much prefer them going to paper and pencil, crayon, marker, paint, and truly creating an honest to goodness work of art. Don't steal from hard-working artists. Those images they are generating are simulations, fake and again, sterile. It's horrid. We're on a slippery slope here. AI is dehumanizing artists in all fields, and of course taking away human jobs.

[@razzleberrycrow]

I tried to find if any of my art has been "scraped" but couldn't figure out how to use it.

[@LiluyeHope2023]

Es ist schon echt beängstigend was da auf uns zurollt. Vor allem wenn man wie bei ChatGPT durchaus den Eindruck gewinnt, dass politische Färbungen bzw. Zensur stattfindet. Ich kann ehrlich gesagt keinerlei Vorteile in dieser Art von Technologie sehen … ganz im Gegenteil, was spricht eigentlich so sehr gegen „selber denken und handeln“? „Ist der Mensch als Wesen so schlecht, dass man ihn unbedingt auf allen Ebenen „verbessern“ muss?“.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Ja, es ist wirklich alles sehr gruselig, und wir haben diese Leute viel zu lange machen lassen. Schau dir mal die Philosophie und die Hintergründe von Leuten im Silicon Valley an. Die meisten von denen glauben daran, dass Technologie uneingeschränkt die Menschheit verbessert, und daher auch nicht reguliert werden darf. Selber denken/handeln ist in dem Sinne dann nicht nötig, weil Technologie das für uns besser macht (Maschinenintelligenz wird mächtiger sein als alle menschliche Intelligenz zusammengenommen, wie das zB Ray Kurzweil postuliert). AI ist für diese Leute die Zukunft der Menschheit, da können wir jetzt nicht kommen mit so kleinlichen Dingen wie "selbst denken". ;-)

[@LiluyeHope2023]

😁. Ja, wir können nur versuchen so lange wie möglich das Spiel (auch in anderen Bereichen unseres Lebens) nicht mitzuspielen. Ich habe jetzt vor 2 Wochen die Social Media Kanäle von mir geschlossen und ich muss zugeben, das ist echt ein Entzug, dass hätte ich so nicht erwartet. Schon erschreckend, wie geschickt wir so nach und nach über Jahre an diese Technologie gewöhnt wurden. Zu lange haben wir im guten Glauben zu allem „Ja und Amen gesagt“.

[@barblallier9413]

​@@NatureSketchbook Makes me angry enough to get my sketchbook and leave my phone at home and head to the woods, ,,with a stack of snacks. Thanks! 😊

[@lous.6372]

Well said!! Etsy is drowning in AI generated art.

[@Horsewoman-pt2ku]

My understanding is Microsoft is in charge and programming ChatGPt. It is concerning because it seems the programmers have included their political views and race bias into it (see Kim Iverson KZbin). Also I agree that it is stealing art that is not copyright free. So with those concerns what kind of AI will we end up with?

[@amoraslucha]

that’s not why it’s concerning. it’s concerning because it’s “intelligence” relies on traumatizing underpaid workers in the global south to manually filter its violent content

[@NatureSketchbook]

I think both of these things are concerning, maybe at different scales. I didn't even mention the part with the Kenian workers, thanks for mentioning it.

[@SunnyOne-kn7up]

Great video, Julie. Thank you so much.

[@lous.6372]

Do watermarks interfere with AI scraping your art?

[@NatureSketchbook]

No.

[@sandraworrall-hart3840]

Thank you Julia.

[@NatureSketchbook]

[@cat-and-raven]

At some point in the future, we will regret AI's creation. I find it unsettling.

[@riffsandpics]

Must not be fun to find out your art was harvested by an AI for some big tech company's profit-making ambitions. The "democratization" explanation adds insult to injury. And the shards of BS you mention I am afraid are certain to come. At least the process of making art cannot be taken away (the act of drawing, watching others perform music...) and I think people will always desire the original piece (the paper with paint on it to be sold, shipped and displayed). I think that knowing something of expression was created by a fellow human will always be desired.

[@NatureSketchbook]

I most definitely hope so!

[@moma-b]

You could hack their system and exploit it, you know? Just send the AI tons of extremely distorted bad pictures and you can pollute the algorithm. 😎

[@NatureSketchbook]

Well, the existing datasets already have most of the internet scraped and available for them to use.

[@moma-b]

@@NatureSketchbook With AI learning data if you manage to put enough "pollution" into the system you can actually harm the algorithm pretty well.

[@martyfrank3548]

By the way; the "5B" of Laion stands for "5 Billion".. the number of artworks it ripped off for scraping data. Sickening Also.. how I love your birds.

[@NatureSketchbook]

Ugh I didn't know that, it just gets better and better. But thanks for mentioning it anyway!

[@MagiccColor]

Finde Deine Videos gut, aber es happert leider an der englischen Sprache. Englische Videos gibt es ja auch wie Sand am Meer… Wird es es das auch von Dir mal als deutschen Kanal geben?. 🙉🙈🙊 LG 🙋🏻‍♀️

[@NatureSketchbook]

Erstmal leider nicht, da das sehr viel Arbeit macht.

[@leticiatoraci9855]

This is all such a mess, A.I should make life easier and not more complicated for people.