A new article from The Guardian covers the struggle of artists, writers, and other “creatives” who are pushing back against AI systems like Midjourney and ChatGPT, which they purport is starting to replace their viability. Betsy Reed writes,

Poetry may still be a hard nut for AI to crack convincingly, but among the first to face a genuine threat to their livelihoods are photographers and designers. Generative software can produce images at the touch of the button, while sites like the popular NightCafe make “original”, data-derived artwork in response to a few simple verbal prompts. The first line of defence is a growing movement of visual artists and image agencies who are now “opting out” of allowing their work to be farmed by AI software, a process called “data training”. Thousands have posted “Do Not AI” signs on their social media accounts and web galleries as a result.

-Betsy Reed, ‘ChatGPT said I did not exist’: how artists and writers are fighting back against AI | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

Even though AI is making inroads into these industries, Reed notes that ChatGPT and other tools like it aren’t as awesome as many folks hype it up to be. She continues,

Scientific efforts to simulate the imagination have always been at the forefront of the push for better AI, precisely because it is so difficult to do. Could software really produce paintings that entrance or stories that engage? So far the answer to both, happily, is “no”. Tone and appropriate emotional register remain hard to fake.

Nonetheless, it is apparent that AI is “plagiarizing” creative work of hard-working human beings, and the pushback, lawsuits, and public concern is starting to highlight that fact.

See also:

Time for Artificial General Intelligence? Not So Fast, OpenAI | Mind Matters.

Learning to Communicate | Mind Matters