I attended this hour-long online AI panel on 10.6.23. It was part of the 2023 Surface Design Symposium… hosted by Spoonflower and Craft Industry Alliance
“Exploring AI: What Artists and Designers Need to Know”
Here is the description of this panel from the website for the symposium--
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in the world of
art and design, offering unprecedented opportunities for creativity,
efficiency, and innovation. However, with these exciting possibilities come
important considerations that artists and designers must navigate. Join us for
a thought-provoking conversation where we delve into the pros and cons of
integrating AI into your creative process and explore what you need to be aware
of as you move forward in this dynamic landscape.
Key highlights of the session will include:
• Consideration of the positive contributions of AI including ways it can amplify your creativity, streamline repetitive tasks, and push the boundaries of your artistic expression opening up new avenues for exploration.
• A look at the ethical dilemmas presented by AI including data privacy, intellectual property rights, bias, and the impact on the job market for artists and designers.
• The opportunity to hear from industry experts who have experience in leveraging AI for creative purposes, as they share their perspectives on the evolving role of AI in the art and design world.
Whether you're looking to harness the power of AI to enhance your business or simply want to stay informed about the evolving landscape, this session will equip you with the knowledge and perspectives you need to make informed decisions about AI's role in your creative journey.
Note:
All information shared during the Surface Design Symposium is for educational
purposes only and is not legal advice.
Panelists Jaime Derringer,
Stephen Caution,
Tammy Browning-Smith
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These are my notes that I took while watching the panel live on 10.6.23:
Panel host Abby Glassenberg is a co founder of Craft Industry Alliance (CIA). CIA is a community for creative
professionals. It's a place to get advice and support.
Spoonflower is a print on demand fabric site. Artists can earn royalties every time their design purchased.
Jaime: based in San Diego. Helping companies find ways to use AI. Also a traditional artist (drawing, painting, fiber art)
Tammy: based in Battle Creek, MI. 20 years in IP space. General counsel for Magnolia Pearl fashion house in TX. Focus on ethical use of AI. ABA commission on AI and on Disability Rights. AI ethical and not so ethical uses.
AI
Tools and what they are used for
Tools
on top of large language models:
Stephen
-- Adobe (already using) generative fill in photoshop. Midjourney – platform to create
images with a prompt (natural language processing).
Jaime – Open AI etc Some are built on own training models, some are built on Open AI/ChatGPT
1) How should artists view AI in general:
Jaime: there’s a lot of fear. Be curious about the tool. Understand the fear others have as it’s still an unknown. As these tools are being adopted by big brands, fear will lessen as it will be a tool. But it can be a starting point for ideas. Tools can give you more creative time.. be more curious than fearful.
Tammy: AI has been around for decades (40-50 years). Know what it is when you think about use. AI is anything where a computer program replaces a human to make a decision or output. What are you using for tools. It’s no different than any other program. Knowing what you plan to use it for. It can be overwhelming.. just the number of programs. What will your ultimate customer will accept/take. AI is evolving every day. Requires ability to research it and network.
Stephen:
Good to be learning now. If you’re an artist and know your craft you’ll get better products out of AI. Artists
who know how to use the tools will always g et better output than average
person using it. Ownership and IP of out put is a whole other issue. But using
tool is still possible.
(Moderator Abby promises they are getting to the IP part)
2) AI based projects/tools coming up that panelists are excited about:
Jaime: Line of characters and toys using text prompts on Dali then using AI to get renderings. Getting to the design end faster. Remember the fear around 3D printing. It just became a tool to prototype ideas. These computer tools help make artists faster at rendering concepts and ideas. Knows a furniture designer who uses AI to “sketch” out ideas.
Stephen: Lots of excitement – getting to MVP (minimum viable product) faster. He built AI Slumber.com bedtime story generator. Lacking certain “art skills” you can use AI to get past those obstacles. Taking text to voice..vocal avatar.. narrate your story w/ AI. Tool “there is an AI for that.com” to see range of AI tools available. Off-load busywork to AI is a huge benefit.
Tammy: Disability perspective. As creative, especially in surface design, resource for AI … most people on the webinar have a vast digital library (of your own images). People want secure, trainable databases. “Visual”.. group of photographers who got together and created clean datasets from their work that now train others. Communities of creatives are concerned about what is being used to train the models/datasets. Those with digital knowledge can be part of solution. Bring assets back. Create revenue. Shape policy.
3) What about images being scraped without consent???
Tammy:
There isn’t one solution. EU has different solution than US. Tammy has a list
of resources to follow. Best thing to do w/ your IP. Watch. Look. Be diligent
about what you’re doing now. If you’re using AI programs… what happens with
what you create? A lot of times it goes back into training the AI model. So if
you enter with your “clean” images… you have entered the pool. Know your audience. If you’re creating AI
generated works and want to protect it.. know what’s going on with the US
Copyright Office. Ever evolving situation. Know what you're creating and if it
can be protected. It’s anyone’s game on AI generated works right now.
Following
Author’s Guild lawsuit right now.. Mary Rathsburger (sp?) website.. at the end of the
day, one of the solutions is going back to zero and re-build the datasets since
it started with unauthorized content to build.
Know
what you’re doing. Know your audience. Know what’s happening to what you’re
creating.
Jaime:
I’ve fed all my stuff into AI (she uses the tools). How can anyone avoid
getting scraped – it’s impossible if you have any images online. Promoting IP
protections in Design. Online art theft isn’t new. There will always be bad
actors. Your brain keeps you ahead. You can innovate and stay ahead. Being able
to push forward and make new keeps you ahead of the pirates.
Stephen:
It’s a very complex and challenging problem to solve. You can prompt Midjourney
or Dall-E and use an artists name “in the style of” … infuse own ideas without
skillset. Need to find a solution to these problems. Use language.. trying to
create style via using langue/words vs specific name of the artist. Using a
name is a cop out. Others argue everything is derivate. Others argue everything
is protected once created. It’s complicated.
Jaime:
if you type: “Star Wars cast in style of Wes Anderson.” You get a specific
outcome. But not everyone has a specific style. If you make anything that is so
iconic, it can be static/problematic. AI will push artists to be more
innovative. Also, audience/client wants the original creator, not a replica…
will make original artists even more valuable if replicas too easy to come by.
Tammy: “in the style of” or prompt…. If it’s a duck it’s a duck. If it’s not your duck… its copyright infringement. If the output that looks like something already there.. we then get into the copyright infringement analysis. Generative output is still subject to copyright, trademark, patent analysis. The laws still apply even with new tools that come along..
Do
the proper resources exist to protect artists??
The same laws that govern IP still exist. Including Fair Use exemptions.
4) how can artists use the tools to grow income/business:
Stephen:
evaluate your workflow processes and see where there are opportunities to
automate. There’s a lot of manual effort going on that can be automated.
Jaime:
Off load the administrative tasks/accounting of small business side so you have
more time for creative. Shopify. Public focus on AI has been on the images… but
there’s a lot more going on with the business side. Creative software to train
ID on your own images. AI for medicine could be game changing. We may be at the
peak of AI image issues.
Abby:
AI images so cool at start.. but know so recognizable. People are calling out
companies that are posting AI images.
How
can artists present evidence of originality for platforms like spoonflower that
prohibit AI art.
Tammy:
the regulatory landscape .. we make art to make money. How do you prove. Proof
is previous body of work. History. Tools. Steps. How do we prove art is art.
It’s based on history and tools (from legal perspective)
Stephen:
look up what happened with NFTs and Blockchains. Trying to prove what is “real”
is a bigger problem. What can we trust anymore when it’s on the internet. Public
ledger will know when you posted on your account. Blockchain will call out cut
and paste vs original creation of a digital assets.
Jaime: (she’s made NFTs). In the future there will be an intersection of internet and blockchain. Human presence will be more valued because we’ll be flooded by AI content. Makes her more optimistic about the future. Human creativity will push back against too much AI.
AI won’t put you out of business. It’s the artists who know how to use AI who bring that skillset to art who will be the most competitive in the art market.
Jump in . Learn. Be part of the conversation.
Q&As
from the audience
Is
there an ethical responsibility by companies to have AI output reviewed for
biases?
Stephen: That’s complicated. There’s bias in Midjouney outputs based on gender and race documented. There needs to be a discussion around t his. Text/tags/descriptions.. how does this read to your customers/clients
Do
artist need to post an AI disclaimer:
Tammy: Disclaimers not required by law. If your posting art to sell, a disclaimer doesn’t resolve the ownership question. The attorney answer is Maybe. But best to educate your consumer in an honest and transparent way.
Jaime: Some artists disclosing AI under “materials.” (AI may become) part of the workflow process, but not the entire thing.
Conclusion..
More
questions than answers.. But its good to be having these discussions. Help the
community understand where we are and where we need to go.
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More posts on the blog about copyright basics, AI etc: https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2023/10/copyright-trademark-ai-image-generator.html
https://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2023/08/deciphering-ai-images-clues-to-look-for.html
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