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ArtStation's Artists Have United in Protest Against AI-Generated Images

Thousands of creators demanded ArtStation to remove AI content from the website.

Over the past few hours, a new trend emerged on ArtStation among the platform's creators, who united in protest against AI-generated images in general and its presence on the ArtStation website in particular.

Thousands of 2D and 3D Artists, representatives of all branches of digital art imaginable, have posted the same image, attached above, and demanded that ArtStation removes AI content from the website, citing multiple reasons for it to do so, including the fact that generated images diminish the work of human creators and make it harder for employers to find talent on the platform.

"Regardless of all the other discussions and problems with AI art: ArtStation is simply not the place for it. At least not without a proper tagging and filtering system," commented 2D Art Lead at SMITE Jon Neimeister. "This is the primary hub where art directors look for talent to hire for their projects. If it becomes flooded with AI art, the art directors and the artists will leave and a new site will replace ArtStation."

"First and foremost, ArtStation is a professional place for artists in the entertainment industry to display their work. I don't think it's merely enough to filter and tag these entries. They should be banned from the website entirely," stated Cinematic Storyboard Artist and Concept Artist Jessie Lam. "The over-proliferation of AI-generated images [that already steal and scrape from this website among many others] drowns out those creative voices and puts up a disingenuous front for other professionals and Art Directors to be exposed to as they look for hires and collaborators. It is a colossal waste of their time and money and this website's server space."

"AI-generated images have no place on a website dedicated to hosting portfolios of artwork created by humans. ArtStation needs to implement clear policies and guidelines against AI-generated works. The technology works on theft, plain and simple. Artists do not need to compete with automated slop built off the backs of their hard work. Protect the artists who help your site thrive," said Andrew Menjivar, a Senior Concept Artist at Blizzard Entertainment.

"AI work has been becoming more and more common on ArtStation and it has become a flood that takes attention away from human artists," noted Digital Sculptor George Crudo. "This is a professional portfolio site where people come to hire humans, not AI art generators. Raw AI art does not really belong on here without limitations or tagging that prevent it from taking over the primary intended users of the site."

A renowned filmmaker Guillermo del Toro also recently gave his two cents on the matter, saying that he's not interested in an "illustration made by machines" and calling AI art "an insult to life itself."

UPD: ArtStation has released a public statement responding to the protest and sharing how they plan to deal with questions about artist permissions and AI art generators, you can read it by clicking this link.

What do you think about this protest? Should ArtStation ban AI content from the website? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Comments 15

  • Anonymous user

    They are absolutely right, if it's a professional site where artists post their work and it's where many find work, then of course AI-generated images should be banned

    8

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    As a guy who has learned to oil paint, in real life, I kinda viewed most digital artists as hacks.  There's no ctrl+z or ctrl+c in real life. But this AI batch of people calling themselves artists is absolutely ridiculous. Over time I've seen digital artists who are actually putting things together and have changed my opinion. But typing words to receive an image is what everyone who has used google has done. Call yourself an art-retriever, but you're in no way an artist.

    0

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    What a sad outcome for the future of entertainment and technology... should AI content be removed off artstation to 'protect' its users? I don't know, maybe?  But should we boycott and absolutely reject AI and it's inevitable integration into humanity society? No... I don't think so.  

    The more that humans accept that AI is here to stay (and grow and coalesce with humanity) the more we can get on with our lives and continue our evolution.  People (artist, musicians, voice actors, etc.) Need to quit complaining about their jobs being on the line, adapt to the ever changing industry and get with the times; can you imagine being the person who rejected the internet? That's pretty much the equivalent of who you are if you choosing to reject AI :)

    1

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    AI "art" is a fraud and must be banned. The over-saturation of crapped-out  images will be overwhelming. Art is about self expression and we don't need computers to kill that. I have zero respect for anyone who goes for the lazy way. Bless you Art Station!

    -1

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    It's not clear what the line is though, for example concept artists do photo bashing. IMO AI art should be there to augment, rather than replace. The fact the training is based on other people's work is its own gross issue, but my point is an outright ban is poorly defined (AI filters in Photoshop for example, use the same "stolen content" based tech)

    0

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    It's kinda funny they're yelling into the ether - the office is empty until at least Jan 3.

    1

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • Dubois Peter

    Yes, please ban AI art. It’s generated from stolen pictures and doesn’t tell anything about the talent of the people using it. It’s on the same low creative level like collecting mood pictures and doesn’t need any skills. Furthermore it will just lead to dumping prices and diverts the attention of clients away from real artists.

    0

    Dubois Peter

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    I agree with these protests and understand that the creators are afraid about their jobs. With AI who would pay for their creative images?

    -1

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·
  • MENON RANJIT

    If you are inspired by the Art it's fine. But calling and Ai art your own is wrong. Ai is good for Exploring possibilities of an idea, this can be iterated further by the ability of the artist. Things that can be pros for Ai would be texture generation using Ai, image enhancements.

    1

    MENON RANJIT

    ·a year ago·
  • Anonymous user

    Ban that trash off of Artstation completely. I've been drawing and studying digital art every day of my life for twenty years.  If you use AI tools to create images, you are a hack and a fraud. Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

    1

    Anonymous user

    ·a year ago·

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