this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2025
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Chapotraphouse
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All of the art that was used to train generative AI was used without its creator's permission, meaning they weren't compensated for all of the years of work and study that went into creating it. Then all of that labour was repackaged into a product that corporations are selling at a premium, with none of the money going back to the people who made the creation of it possible. These companies have well admitted that they wouldn't be able to make a profit if they had to actually pay all these artists for their work. Now obviously, that isn't technically stealing, but neither is it harmless. I personally know several artists who've told me that work has dried up in the years since generative AI became popular, and who are upset that their own work was used to train the machines that are replacing them.
I mean, yeah, piracy is stealing. I thought most people were okay with it because it's mostly done with games and movies made by huge corporations who've already paid their developers and actors, and thus you're not actually stealing from artists. I've personally never understood the "I never would have bought and watched/played this anyway" argument, because here you are, watching/playing it. But also, I really don't care if other people pirate stuff, people must have their reasons.
Maybe I'm just going hard on the whole anti generative AI thing because of my personal connection to and harm I see it causing to people I know. But on the whole, considering the environmental impact, the corporatization of the technology, the exploitation of artists, the killing of creativity/critical thought, and the absolutely gross techbro culture that's spwaned out of it, I just thought more people on this site would be against generative AI in general.
piracy is not stealing, stealing deprives someone of something.
"Hey man I need to see all your text and all your images you ever made."
""Why?"
"So I can make bad collage-copies of them and write shitty listicles."
"I don't want you to do that."
"Too bad, you put your stuff somewhere I could see it so I already did it and you have no recourse now because the powerful people that made me are above copyright law."
There is no personal use with this, because the AI was trained on everyone's stolen information. That is the problem, not the fact that it can make a bad picture because that was done. If the AIs could actually make anything from whole cloth, then we'd be having a different debate, but that's not what's going on.
Steal from corporations, not form people's pantries you sick, disgusting fuck.
For real, do you not understand that the corpos are taking everyone's...EVERYONE'S things and making them theirs, for these garbage bots? That there is a difference between stealing from an individual as opposed to a company? You are gleefully saying that theft of personal property is okay, so long as it's the big boys in silicon valley doing it.
Sterling fucking socialist theory there, bucko!
And since you clearly need this explained more clearly: stealing from individual artists that honed a skill to the point they can make a living from it is bad, because you are stealing the livelihood from a fellow worker. Stealing form any individual is bad, actually. It really should not be hard to understand this, yet somehow...