Comment on AI trained on photos from kids’ entire childhood without their consent
Even_Adder@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks agoI’m not fighting for the extremely wealthy, I’m fighting for the existence of competitive open source models. Something that can’t happen with what you’ve proposed. That would just hand corporations a monopoly of a public technology by making it prohibitively expensive to for regular people to keep up with Megacorporations that already own vast troves of data and can afford to buy even more.
This article by Katherine Klosek, the director of information policy and federal relations at the Association of Research Libraries does a good job of explaining what I’m talking about.
frog@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
Taking artists’ work without consent or compensation goes against the spirit of open source, though, doesn’t it? The concept of open source relies upon the fact that everyone involved is knowingly and voluntarily contributing towards a project that is open for all to use. It has never, ever been the case that if someone doesn’t volunteer their contributions, their work should simply be appropriated for the project without their consent. Just look at open source software: that is created and maintained by volunteers, and others contribute to it voluntarily. It has never, ever been okay for an open source dev to simply grab whatever they want to use if the creator hasn’t explicitly released it under an applicable licence.
If the open source AI movement wants to be seen as anything but an enemy to artists, then it cannot just stomp on artists’ rights in exactly the same way the corporate AIs have. Open source AIs need to have a conversation about consent and informed participation in the project. If an artist chooses to release all their work under an open source licence, then of course open source AIs should be free to use it. But simply taking art without consent or compensation with the claim that it’s fine because the corporate AIs are doing it too is not a good look and goes against the spirit of what open source is. Destroying artists’ livelihoods while claiming they are saving them from someone else destroying their livelihoods will never inspire the kind of enthusiasm from artists that open source AI proponents weirdly feel entitled to.
This is ultimately my problem with the proponents of AI. The open source community is, largely, an amazing group of people whose work I really respect and admire. But genuine proponents of open source aren’t so entitled that they think anyone who doesn’t voluntarily agree to participate in their project should be compelled to do so, which is at the centre of the open source AI community. Open source AI proponents want to have all the data for free, just like the corporate AIs and their tech bro CEOs do, cloaking it in the words of open source while undermining everything that is amazing about open source. I really can’t understand why you don’t see that forcing artists to work for open source projects for free is just as unethical as corporations doing it, and the more AI proponents argue that it’s fine because it’s not evil when they do it, the more artists will see them as being just as evil as the corporations. You cannot force someone to volunteer.
Even_Adder@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
It doesn’t. Making observations about others’ works is a well-established tool for any researchers, reviewers, and people inventing new works. A concept which work perfectly within the open source framework. Because it’s a step one must necessarily take when doing anything, and doing this doesn’t require anyone’s permission and is itself a right we all have.
frog@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
When the purpose of gathering the data is to create a tool that destroys someone’s livelihood, the act of training an AI is not merely “observation”. The AIs cannot exist without using content created by other people, and the spirit of open source doesn’t include appropriating content without consent - especially when it is not for research or educational purposes, but to create a tool that will be used commercially, which open source ones inevitably will be, given the stated purpose is to compete with corporate models.
No argument you can make will convince me that what open source AI proponents are doing is any less unethical or exploitative than what the corporate ones are. Both feel entitled to artists’ labour in exchange for no compensation, and have absolutely no regard for the negative impacts of their projects. The only difference between CEO AI tech bros and open source AI tech bros is the level of wealth. The arrogant entitlement is just the same in both.
Even_Adder@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Giving all people a tool to help them more effectively communicate, express themselves, learn, and come together is something everyone should get behind.
I firmly believe in the public’s right to access and use information, while acknowledging artists should retain specific rights over their creations. I also accept that the rights they don’t retain have always enabled ethical self-expression and productive dialogue.
Imagine if copyright owners had the power to simply remove whatever wasn’t profitable for them from existence. We’d be hindering critical functions such as critique, investigation, reverse engineering, and even the simple cataloging of knowledge. In place of all that good, we’d have an ideal world for those with money, tyrants, and all those who seek control, and the undermining of the free exchange of ideas.