Chinese artists boycott social media site over AI image generation tool

Artists in China are boycotting the country’s major social media platform over the use of its AI image-generation tool. The controversy erupted after one artist claimed that the social media site Xiaohongshu trained its AI tool using her artwork without her permission or knowledge, CNN reported. The AI tool, named Trik AI, excels in creating digital art inspired by traditional Chinese paintings but its maker Xiaohongshu has not revealed what artworks it used to train its AI model.

The artist, who goes by the name Snow Fish, got to know about the matter when one of her friends shared with her an artwork which looked similar to the one created by her. Taking to Xiaohongshu, Snow Fish wrote, “Can you explain to me, Trik AI, why your AI-generated images are so similar to my original works?”

Now, more artists have spoken up about the issue, which can have ramifications on their livelihoods. They are boycotting the site, while urging the government to bring stricter AI regulations at the same time.

Artists like Snow Fish say the AI is not the problem, but training AI models using their artworks without due credit and acknowledgement is.

“They’re shameless,” said Zhang, another Chinese illustrator. “They didn’t put in any effort themselves, they just took parts from other artists’ work and claimed it as their own, is that appropriate,” he was quoted by CNN as saying.

“In the future, AI images will only be cheaper in people’s eyes, like plastic bags. They will become widespread like plastic pollution,” he added.

According to Snow Fish, a person using the official Trik AI account on Xiaohongshu contacted her privately and acknowledged that her work was used to train the AI model and also tendered an apology. But she says it was not enough and a public apology should be issued by the company instead. (IANS)

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