The Future In Balance
The price of expediency
Copyright lawsuits, Emerald
1 min read
Image description: Cracked dry ground in foreground. Shrinking watersource. Cattle and sparse greenery in background against mesa and mountains. Image credit Redcharlie sourced from Unsplash
The lifeblood of every AI is huge amounts of data. To exist and be refined they must have training material. How that training material is curated matters. The future is indeed in balance, but perhaps not the future these creators are arguing. Honoring laws and the creators they protect, acting with integrity, working in collaboration with an eye toward bettering the future; these are the crossroads we stand at.
Copyright law & IP laws existed long before AI tools started being developed. There is much available in the public domain, though less easily accessible.
There's a proposed class-action lawsuit in San Francisco Federal court on behalf of artists. Stable AI, Midjourney & Deviant Art are all part of the same proposed class-action suit.
According to Reuters A spokesperson for Stability AI said Tuesday in response to the artists' lawsuit that the company takes "these matters seriously," and that "anyone that believes that this isn't fair use does not understand the technology and misunderstands the law."
This looks like an attempt to argue "too big to fail" long before this is true.
Thoughtful, innovative, collaborative development is the answer here, not rapid development to be the first at the table to grab the potential cash pile. Grabbing a fistful of lawsuits instead of profit seems like the right correction.
Paying fines and ending up in court as the cost of doing business? Calculating and sadly, predictable. Unless the penalties have real teeth I can't see this being an effective deterrent.