The largest theft in history is happening before our eyes on social media

AI-generated art are illustrations, photos, audio, or text created with artificial intelligence, and have grown in popularity and use in recent years and is a controversial subject in art communities. Recently, X changed its terms and conditions to allow its own AIs to be trained using existing posts, which triggered a mass response from artists on the platform.

Bakuhatsu, a 19-year-old digital artist, said in an interview with start-up.ro that “X has stolen millions of works without our consent, and I believe they will continue to do so, even if we opt out.”

This update to X’s terms is set to take effect on November 15, and many content creators on X have deleted their posts and moved to other platforms, such as Tumblr or BlueSky.

A study by the Academy of Animated Art shows that 74% of artists believe AI-generated art is unethical, and 55% fear that this technology will prevent them from earning revenue from their own works. 

A Colorado-based artist spent 80 hours using artificial intelligence to create a piece he called Théâtre D’opéra Spatial and beat several human artists to win first place in the Digital Art category at the Colorado State Fair. 

The story went viral on social media. When asked if they thought AI-generated works could be considered art, 76% of Americans said “no.”

X’s new terms state that “by submitting, posting, or displaying content on or through the services, you grant us a worldwide license.” This license includes permission to analyze that content “for use in and training our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or of another type.”

Essentially, if you continue to use X, you accept that your data may be used to train AI models, according to CNN Business.

This has raised concerns within creative communities, which were already struggling with the ethical issues surrounding AI, particularly art theft to train such generative models. The platform's lack of protection has driven many artists to leave X, delete all their posts, and move to safer platforms, the most popular being BlueSky and Tumblr.

Deleted all my art on here except this. I just don’t have the heart to delete all those lovely comments💔💔Why does it have to be like this? Why am I pressured to give up my art to AI? I poured all my love and passion and years and years of my life into my art, just for them to- https://t.co/mBFdR4Qnr7

— Yawei (@tarthoc) November 5, 2024

It’s not only artists who are affected. Last year, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, accusing them of unauthorized use of their published works to train AI models.

Bakuhatsu, an artist specializing in character design, says that initially, she too used AI for small things and inspiration.

Now, she notices how communities are suffering. “I thankfully haven't faced problems myself, but the art community as a whole is being hurt as big companies, "prestigious" animation schools, and businesses in general seem to be prioritizing " fast and cheap " to quality, putting many artists/animators at loss and without a job. A lot of illustrative product designs are now full of mistakes and nonsense, it has both decreased employment and decreased the quality of merchandise. ”

“X has stolen millions of artworks without our consent, and I believe they will keep doing it whether or not we opt out. A lot of artists don't feel safe posting their art online as a product of this. The ones who spent years building a community are torn, as protecting themselves and the art community as a whole would cost possibly their financial comfort and years of marketing work. X has made it clear they do not value artists on their platform,” she continues.

Peppers, an artist who focuses on fan art (content created by a fan based on a show, film, book, etc.), feels demoralized by the current situation. "Sadly, X integrating this policy is not surprising. Instagram has been doing the same for at least a year, and many of us predicted that other apps would follow. It’s upsetting. For artists like me, our entire online presence is reliant on social media websites like Instagram, X, and TikTok. And because it is impossible to opt out of the AI training, we are forced to either handicap our media presence by deleting most–if not all–of our illustrations and promote ourselves on apps like BlueSky that won’t get nearly the same traction, or grit and bear it in order to stay relevant.”

“I have seen art friends abandon X altogether, but they often become discouraged by the lack of engagement from the new sites they migrate into and often reach a lull with their art, unmotivated to create. It’s a difficult dilemma. I still haven’t come to a decision. I have 9k followers on X. I only have 300+ followers on BlueSky. It’s unlikely I’ll reach the same follower count. It’s tough. It’s demoralizing.”

Peppers says AI has impacted the way artists post on a large scale, and that, ultimately, it takes from artists who did not consent to having their work used to train AI models. She explains that AI creators now have ways to profit financially from others, which discourages aspiring creators. Moreover, she notes, the impact is felt in studios like Disney, which has begun minimizing their departments and replacing some illustrations with AI.

“AI art feels like a cancer that has spread to every facet of the art community. While the AI has been used mainly in more mainstream spaces, it has already begun entering fandom spaces such as Malevolent and The Magnus Archives, two horror podcasts that have very active art communities.

As a former art student and as someone still active in art communities, AI initially presented itself as a helpful tool turned into a replacement. I’ve had many moments of looking at AI-generated illustrations created in seconds, where I felt that all the progress I’ve made over the years was in vain, and this feeling lingered for a long time.

We can’t stop technology, nor do I think we should try. But I think everyone would prefer technology to help us around the house while we enjoy art, not the other way around. It can be frustrating to start a hobby like this, especially if you’re not young, and maybe that’s why AI seems like a step forward to be a part of something.

Yet, art is about the process and what it makes you feel, not about the final product.