Why I Deleted My Art from Social Media: A Stand Against AI Exploitation

TL;DR:
Two things have happened:

1. I nuked my social media and will slowly re-upload all art with Glaze or Nightshade, programs that help combat Ai learning from artists.
2. I quit Adobe programs after a lifetime of building my career on them in favor of the Affinity suite and Procreate, and I’m still mad.

The Whole Story

It is done.

I have deleted all photos of my art off of Facebook and Instagram. I have also dissolved both my art shops with them. This is not a decision I expect other artists to make. I am in a position where I can take this risk for the time being, though I still have anxiety about how this will affect my art career. But the heavy-handed method of forcing, and even tricking, all creators—artists, musicians, photographers—to submit their work unwillingly or unknowingly just by having it posted, without credit or payment, to train Meta AI disgusts me.

And yes, I have seen the “options” to opt out because, for months, I have been “opting out.” They “deselect” themselves and are moved to another, harder-to-find section in the system. I am appalled. How many times must I say NO?

I suppose it was a long time coming to finally leave Instagram and Facebook. I will continue to keep my accounts and post events and the occasional heavily watermarked and glazed images. I will also continue to focus on interpersonal relationships with galleries and with the people who resonate with my art, who find me and reach out. My DMs remain open.

I will continue my work on my Patreon and my blog, so if you have an RSS feed or a feed reader of some sort, you can follow along on my journey here.

I have seen some discourse of “it is inevitable.” I understand the sentiment. I am not here to fight AI. There is so much about machine learning that is incredible and powerful and can be used in many creative ways other than stealing from artists, without consent, ignoring NDAs, and pleas from all the creative communities it’s exploiting.

Additionally, but hopefully less permanently, I am canceling my Adobe Suite until they rework their AI use in a more specific and artist-facing manner. This has not been an easy decision. I have a lifetime of files and work in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and After Effects. They have all my fonts, as I don’t even own my fonts anymore—not for lack of trying. I don’t know how this will affect my self-employment as I move forward and try to maintain connections with the design houses that DO use those programs.

But I do know one thing for sure: I am here to voice my dissent on Meta and Adobe’s use, support, and promotion of this present flavor of AI and its absolute disregard for artistic copyrights.

Here are some links to articles who express this much better than me, on the Adobe drama specifically:

FIRST : Adobe's new terms of service unacceptably gives them access to all of your projects, for free

By Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen on Jun 06, 2024

 

THEN : Adobe has clarified controversial shrinkwrap license terms, but the damage may have already been done

By Mike Wuerthele on Jun 07, 2024

 

THIS ARTICLE HELPED ME DECIDE WHICH PROGRAMS TO START LEARNING TO REPLACE ADOBE SUITE: Thinking of ditching Adobe? These are the best alternatives according to creatives  No more "draconian terms of service”.

By Natalie Fear on June 10, 2024

 

MOST RECENT: Adobe overhauls terms of service to say it won’t train AI on customers’ work The company will roll out new terms next week that clarify what it can and can’t do with its users’ data.

By Jess Weatherbed on June 10, 2024

 

NIGHTSHADE AND GLAZE

And last but definitely not least, an article about Nightshade and Glaze

Titled: Use These Apps to Stop AI From Stealing Your Art. Don't let generative AI come after your original work.

By Brendan Hesse on January 29, 2024

 

Be well, and don't stop creating.