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I was shocked to learn this past month that FIverr is going to allow generative AI gigs to be sold on their platform. Currently, there are many legal and ethical complications surrounding this technology. 

For months, artists around the world have spoken in opposition to AI generated content, due to the fact that the datasets used to train AI consist of millions of copyright protected photos and pieces of art. These images were used without license, consent, compensation or credit given to the artists. This issue is perfectly illustrated by someone being able to use a specific artist's or photographer's name in the prompt text in order to generate imitations of that person's work and style. 

Currently, the US does not give AI generated work copyright protection, and in the UK, the government has rolled back a policy that would have given AI developers near unparalleled exemptions for datamining after the policy was met with significant backlash by both the music industry and visual artists. 

Linked below is an article on the rollback of the UK datamining exemption: 

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/british-government-scraps-plan-for-ai-text-and-data-mining-copyright-exception/

Fiverr's decision looks even more baffling to me in light of there now being two lawsuits against AI companies, one of them by Getty Images, and the other filed on behalf of visual artists. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-stable-diffusion-stability-ai-lawsuit-artists-sue-image-generators/

You can view the PDF of the lawsuit here: 

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/myvmogjdxvr/IP%20AI%20COPYRIGHT%20complaint.pdf

Getty Images Lawsuit against Stability AI: 

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/getty-images-lawsuit-stability-ai-12-million-photos-copied-stabile-diffusion-1234656475/

You can view the PDF of the Getty Images Lawsuit here: 

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24412807/getty_images_vs_stability_AI_delaware.pdf

In recent weeks, there has also been growing concern around AI's ability to generate deepfake visual and audio of real people, including celebrities and streamers. These deepfakes have been used to spread misinformation, to harass, and to create non-consensual p*o*r*nography. While deepfake technology has existed for a few years, what makes this new iteration potentially more dangerous and terrifying is the speed at which deepfake material can now be generated and spread, and how it will progressively become harder to distinguish from real photos or video/audio as the available models improve. 

Below is a link to a news story detailing the Atrioc deepfake porn scandal: 

https://www.insider.com/atrioc-caught-qtcinderella-ai-picture-twitch-deepfake-controversy-streamer-trauma-2023-2

Generative AI is a Disaster in the Making

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