US artists sue AI tools that copy their creative styles

Artist Karla Ortiz and other artists are trying to stop artificial intelligence (AI) from freely copying their style and potentially putting them out of work. (Source: AFP)

The creative arts community in the US is reacting strongly online and pushing for a lawsuit against artificial intelligence (AI) tools that copy artistic ideas.

Last year, AI tools capable of copying creative styles—drawing a dog in the style of cartoonist Sarah Andersen, for example, or a goddess in the style of artist Karla Ortiz—were released, sparking outrage among artists.

In January, a group of artists, including Sarah Andersen and Karla Ortiz, sued companies that use AI models including DreamUp, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion to generate images from works taken from the internet.

The group of artists who filed the class action lawsuit and its backers hope to create a legal framework to regulate AI models to prevent AI from copying artists' artistic ideas.

Artists are calling on the government to enact regulations that would require AI development companies to seek permission from creators when using artworks taken from the internet to train AI.

In addition, artists are demanding adequate compensation from AI companies for unauthorized use of their images.

The three companies that used AI to produce the images have yet to comment.

Not only fighting legally, artists also use technology to protect copyrights of their works against the rise of AI technology.

Last week, a team of researchers at the University of Chicago launched an app called “Glaze” that helps artists protect their artworks from being copied by AI.

The app adds a layer of data to images that acts as a camouflage to “blind” the AI. However, according to software developers, AI developers will find ways to bypass these protections, and it will be a game of “cat and mouse.”

VNA