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fireflysummers
fireflysummers

Title: FireflySummers’ Guide to Arguing Against the Use of AI Image Generators Subtitle: (AKA I hate AI image generators so fucking much that I published a whole ass academic article on it) Tony: annotated by tony, a multiply disabled queer jewish artist Baku: also annotated by baku, who draws and is not from the US Sunny: Annotated by Sunny, art educator and merch artistALT
Slide Title: Instructions for use The purpose of the original paper and now this post the following: 1. Provide at least one academic article that you can cite. (Full paper + citation available below) 2. Make explicit community values that have previously been implicit, in order to better examine your own perceptions of the online artist community, and where you sit within it. 3. Provide rebuttals to common pro-AI talking points, with the intention of shutting down the conversation and reclaiming the narrative. What this paper and post cannot do: 1. Act as a sole authority about the online artist community and its values. We are not a monolith, and it is up to you to think critically about what, exactly, you want to take away from this discussion. 2. Provide a way to convince AI Evangelists that what they’re doing is wrong and bad and needs to stop. You will never convince them. Again, focus on shutting them down and reclaiming the narrative.ALT
Slide Title: A Quick Note Before Beginning If your response to this is to start arguing with me about whether or not AI image generators can be used “for good” Leave. [Image ID: four panel screenshot comic from Spongebob Squarepants. Panel 1 - Patrick: Wait! Panel 2 - Patrick: I have an idea. Panel 3 - Spongebob: Really? What is it? Panel 4 - Patrick: Let's leave.] Sunny (referring to the spongebob comic): Smartest thing you can do. I have nothing to say to somebody who can’t properly weigh the harm inflicted on real people against a potential good that has, thus far, completely failed to materialize. Baku: also consider your loyalty is being sold to the next big corps now that they know they can buy you with promises they don't have to deliver on Go spout your technosolutionist bullshit elsewhere. Tony: it’s called “buttering the cat” - inventing unneeded and harmful accessibility solutions without consulting a single disabled person about their actual needs. it’s easier to imagine yourself as the hero instead of actually helping.ALT
Slide Title: Positionality (aka why I think my opinion is valid) Doctoral Student in Human-Centered Design* Topic of interest is fandom Started researching fandom in my MS Degree Been in fandom over a decade on multiple platforms Freelance illustrator/animator Lots of creative collaboration (fanzines, MAPs, etc
) Some of my Stuff (I don’t have any formal art training, so I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to learn.) Tony: that’s why i do fanzines; a lesbian minds our finances while we teach each other how color theory works. firefly “no formal art education” summers out here drawing blorbos like klimt - i’m so proud * Human-Centered Design is like
 tech/engineering stuff, except maybe this time we should actually consider the cost of our actions? [Image ID: A series of six complete illustrations, indicated to be "some of my stuff" by a light purple arrow. 1) Sora from Kingdom Hearts standing in the waves near the Destiny Islands; 2) is a headless skeleton riding a camel against a blood red moon; 3) Mr. Mime the Pokemon ominously cuts vegetables with the help of it's psychic powers; 4) Barbara from Genshin Impact strikes a fancy pose at the camera; 5) Sailor Saturn in her various stages of life, set in the style of Klimt; 6) Kid Loki sipping a juice box in the ruins of a city. End Image ID]ALT
Slide Title: The Question is not : “What is Art” Sunny: As an art educator you use this question intentionally to get the responder to contradict themself so they reevaluate their definition of art.. It’s a trap even then, but the intent is to expand understanding and help people be open minded. How tech bros use it is to intentionally just to corner artists, there is not other purpose. They are trying to use the tools that helped progress art to justify themselves. Tech Bros really want you to debate over whether or not AI generated images “counts” is “real” art. Don’t take the bait. Sunny: You will never win this argument. That is the point. The actual Question(s) are: What is the value of art? Who gets to decide that? Sunny: Also what is the purpose and why do we make art? Art has always been part of humanity.ALT
Slide Title: What are our values? [Table ID: A two-column table titled Comparison of Values." On one side is AI Evangelists, with the following list: Profit; Efficiency (profit); Efficacy (profit); Marketability (profit); Function/Utility (profit). The other side is titled Online Artists and contains a single question mark. \End Table ID] (pointing to the AI Evangelists column) It’s not difficult to describe what supporters of AI image generators value–they’re capitalists. They don’t see art, they see a product, and approach it with the intent to earn profit. Tony: tech bros run pyramid schemes and they get all their talking points from the same place; most of them even went to the same school. Baku: yep this is literally the same con repackaged. old tech for specific uses resold with hype as "revolutionary" so people will buy in and they can shuffle the inflated value to someone else and cash out. Sunny: A lot of people do it for attention. But in the social media world, attention is just a fancy way of saying you are marketing yourself. It is yet again for profit whether that be financial or social reputation that lead to partnerships and profit. (pointing to the Online Artists column): It’s harder to describe the values of the online artist community–not because they don’t exist, but because until recently they’ve been implicit. In order to define our values, it’s first important to define our community →ALT
Slide Title: What Is The Online Artist Community? A global cross-platform community of artists whose social infrastructure for collaboration, networking, and sharing their work exists primarily online. The online artist community has a special relationship with the fanartist community: A Venn Diagram (bc bitches love a Venn Diagram) [Image ID: A Venn Diagram with two circles overlapping except for a small sliver on either side. The left side is labeled "The Fanartist Community" and the right side is labeled "The Online Artist Community." In the center it reads: They’re not 100% the same community, but there is a lot of overlap. \End Image ID] Most of us start out drawing fanart. Some of us even make a career out of it! Baku: aha <3 [Image ID: A two panel comparison. On the left is a picture of Marvel's Doctor Strange dressed in his wizard outfit, looking exhausted, wearing a grimace, and holding a cigarette. It's titled "artists all day" The right picture is again of Doctor Strange, but in his Spiderman: No Way Home Incarnation. He's smiling, holding a mug, and wearing relatively casual clothes. It's titled "artists in fandom for some reason. The image was inserted by Tony. \End Image ID] So why is that important?ALT
Slide Title: Community Values 1. Accessibility, Diversity, & Inclusion 2. Informal Learning & Mentorship 3. The Gift Economy 4. Authenticity Due to its connection to fanartists and the larger transformative fandom* community, the online artist community shares a lot of similar values. Although likely not the only values important to the online artist community, these four are particularly relevant to the issue. Tony: we envision ourselves as participants in a community buffet - not everyone knows how to cook, but all gatherings are better with food for everyone. [Image ID: A screenshot of a Tumblr post featuring a two panel comic. The top panel features a stick man titled "The Artist," looking disappointed at two cakes, one tiered and fancy the other plain. The stick man says "aw man, that guy's cake is way better than mine". The bottom panel features a stick man titled "The Audience," holding a fork and knife and smiling with delight. The stick man says "HOLY SHIT. TWO CAKES." Comment by tumblr user stuffman: People have written a lot of touchy-feely pieces on this subject but I thought I'd get right to the heart of the matter. Comment by tumblr user pervocracy: This is 100% more motivating than every preachy "real writers write every day" posts on all of Tumblr. The image was added by Tony \End Image ID] * Transformative fandom refers to the subsection of fandom that focus on remix like fanart, fanfiction, fanvidding, etc
 It is different from mainstream fandom, which focuses on consuming products and upholding the “canon”ALT
Slide Title: Value #1: Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion (1/2) A fact probably obvious to other artists online: The online artist community is extremely diverse! It’s an intersectional space that runs across dimensions of gender, sexuality, financial status, disability, and race. As a result, accessibility is important to the online artist community, resulting in community-wide initiatives to celebrate diversity and improve accessibility! Examples of Community-Driven Initiatives to Increase Accessibility: Adding trigger warning tags; Standardizing epilepsy warnings on flashing gifs and videos; Normalizing the use of alt text or image descriptions for visually impaired people Tony: tech bros think of artists as opinionated young white women and willowy moody white boys (both using daddy’s credit card), but that’s just because those are the only ones who don’t get hatecrimed (as often) in tech bro spaces. Baku: extremely funny of them to be like that when the vast majority of their tech relies materially on overseas nonwhite labour. at least I own the things I actively draw (oh? oops?) Although not every initiative is well-executed or successful, the presence of these ongoing initiatives indicates a community conscious of inequality and actively attempt to address it.ALT
Slide Title: Value #1: Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion (2/2) Although not the only medium, digital art is by far the most common medium used in the online artist community, because: Digital art is one of the most accessible forms of art in history. Digital art does not require lots of physical space to store materials or art, keeping it viable even if you are unhoused or in a cramped or unstable living environment. Tony: what percentage of traditional art supplies are radioactive or carcinogenic? the answer may surprise you - as will the price tag. you’re seriously telling me this 2oz jar of cancer sauce costs a hundred and fifty bucks? bitch, procreate only has the ballsack to charge me $10. Baku: hey I bet 90% of people who see my art don't live even close to where I am! Digital artifacts do not require a gallery or museum to be displayed or enjoyed by others Tony: with an oil painting i have to suck a gallery curators dick to get it in front of an audience of 600 rich dickheads for an evening. tumblr’s open 24/7. Equipment Accessibility Software: Don’t pay for subscription software, it’s not worth it Low-Cost: Clip Studio Paint, Paint Tool Sai, Procreate Free: FireAlpaca, Krita, Magma, Blender, subscription software if you’re clever You don’t actually need designated art software, like, people will use word processors to create art Hardware: Computer, laptop, etc
 (nothing specific or fancy) Drawing tablets now cost less than 50 USD Alt hardware: trackpad, mouse, Nintendo DS, etc
ALT
Slide Title: Value #2: Informal Learning and Mentorship (1/2) Because the online artist community is so diverse, most of us aren’t privileged to receive a formal art education. So we mentor* and teach each other. [Image ID: Three tutorials from different artists. The first is part of a storyboarding tutorial by tumblr user sabertoothwalrus. The second is a tutorial about how to draw the folds of different types of materials by tumblr user ash-and-starlight. The third is a tutorial about drawing a low camera angle face shot by the tumblr user miyuli. \End Image ID] Baku: goal-wise the only thing I want is, in fact, my art getting other people to draw as well I know we joke about Tumblr University, but seriously, look how many resources we make for each other! Storyboarding, character design, anatomy, clothing
 anything you could possibly hope to learn! For free! Tony: if i help you learn how to draw our blorbos, we can both bring cake to the party * Fanfiction communities have been academically studied as sites for an informal learning method called “Distributed Mentorship.” Unsurprisingly, it shows up in fanart communities as well!ALT
Slide Title: Value #2: Informal Learning and Mentorship (2/2) Community-generated resources don’t just cover art school curriculum, but what some programs don’t cover (i.e. how to respectfully portray non-white, non-normative bodies). This is also a form of identity work and self-representation. Tony: if we teach you how to draw blorbos that look like us, we get to see more art of them! [Image ID: Three tutorials in the same row. The first is part of a tutorial about how to draw fat on cartoon characters by tumblr user hometownrockstar. The second is a tutorial about how to illustrate a cane by tumblr user deoidesign. The third is part of a tutorial about portraying blush on a variety of skin tones, by tumblr user cinnamonrollbakery. \EndID] Much wow! The online artist community values doesn’t gatekeep trade knowledge because they think that everybody deserves the opportunity to make art! Sunny: Artists want people to do art no matter the skill level. So we provide the tools. It’s because we know how it feels to not be represented. And the emotional value it has.ALT
Slide Title: Value #3: The Gift Economy (1/2) (aka anti-capitalism) The online artist community (and artists in general) have inclinations towards anti-capitalism and counterculture. Internally, the culture runs on a gift economy*. In a gift economy, the value of an artifact (i.e. artwork) is not determined by its financial worth. Instead, its value is defined by what an artifact symbolizes–the time and energy the giver spent to create something for the recipient. Tony: you worked hard on it, that’s what matters Baku: it's about the fact that someone looked at the art, interpreted the art, and spent the time articulating that in their art. it's interaction! it's communication! we are playing together! [Image ID: An watermarked shutterstock graphic of a white box tied with a red ribbon. The image is titled The Gift. Four arrows point towards the gift, reacing: care, time, intent, and work. \End Image ID] * The gift economy also applies to transformative fandom, and there is a significant amount of academic research into the social dynamics of giving and receiving fanfiction, fanart, and other creative remixes.ALT
Slide Title: Value #3: The Gift Economy (2/2) (aka anti-capitalism) You cannot divorce a gift from the giver, or from the reciprocation that it invites. It is emblematic of a community that prioritizes collaboration over competition. [Image ID: A meme featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio, wearing sunglasses and holding a fist full of cash. He is leaning over a balcony and and tossing the bills away. Additional edits have been added to the image, with arrows pointing to the falling cash, stating "my entire artist alley profit." Another edit along the bottom shows a lot of hearts, indicating an unseen audience below loving what is happening. The text reads: "The same artist alley." The image was added by Tony. \End Image ID] Tony: one artist gets paid for a commission, they turn around and use that money to commission a different artist. we’re all just passing around the same 20 dollars Sunny: Sometimes this comes in the form of “Art trades”. You can exchange equal effort artwork upon agreement. Merch artists will also trade physical art and merchandise AI image generators commit art theft by scraping an art piece of its symbolism and context. It disrespects the gift and renders it meaningless, in the pursuit of equally meaningless “art.” Baku: "this feels vague and abstract" if a random pixel generator grinds up my việt phỄc art and spits out a set that minces up the phoenix embroidery I will personally chew and swallow it (TBH the whole thing stinks of colonialism. See the full paper for more on that)ALT
Slide Title: An Aside About “Art Theft” in the Online Artist Community Online artists’ understanding of “art theft” isn’t bounded by US Copyright law. Instead, “art theft” is a calculation of harm. Tony: this is what copyright law would look like if artists got to decide on the rules instead of our corporate overlords. Although specifics may vary between artists, the reasoning goes like this: [Table ID: A 2x3 table. The left side represents a scenario, and the right its outcome. They first one reads "Reposting another person’s art without credit" with the following points: Causes direct harm to artists by denying them social capital and the opportunity for future work; It’s rude??? The second one reads: "Selling fanart of indie media" with the following points: Usually causes direct harm to the creators of indie media by competing for the limited fandom resources; Case-by-case: some indie creators give permission for the limited sale of fanworks. The third one reads: "Selling fanart of corporate IP" with the following points: There is literally no amount of fanart we could sell that would harm The Mouse; It is always morally correct to steal from large corporations \End Table ID] Baku (indicating the first line of the table): and also sometimes you can't tell that someone uses a cultural element in their art unless they point it out for you. can't ask the reposter those questions Anyways, be gay, do crimes (against systems of oppression such as capitalism)ALT
Slide Title: Value #4: Authenticity Art isn’t just putting strokes on a canvas. It’s an identity and a community, and demands the artist be vulnerable, to create by sharing pieces of themselves with the world. In other words, artists value the connection between art, the artist, and the audience, because it’s tied deeply to the human experience. We respect people who put their wholeass pussy into their craft. Tony: i create, i imagine, i think therefore i am. People say, oh you do art? Is it a fun hobby? No, it’s not a fun hobby. It’s a load bearing* hobby. If I don’t create art, my mental health declines. If I don’t create art, I start getting an itch deep in my soul that will slowly but steadily unsettle my entire way of being. David Shrigley said it better than me. [Image ID: A comic by Dave Shrigley. A white dog (or cat) sits at a piano. The text says: "He plays very badly, but it stops him from destroying things."] *Credit for the idea of the load bearing hobby goes to bakuALT
Slide Title: Art in the Machine [Table ID: The same table as seen on Slide 06. The Table is titled Comparison of Values and is split into two columns. The first column is titled AI Evangelists, with the following points: Profit; Efficiency (profit); Efficacy (profit); Marketability (profit); Function/Utility (profit). The second column is titled Online Artists and now reads: Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion; Informal Learning & Mentorship; The Gift Economy; Authenticity \End Table ID] tl;dr the online artist community hates AI image generators because their value system fundamentally misaligns with the people pushing the technology. However, it’s been hard to articulate this, because until recently it was implicit stuff that was just understood. AI Evangelists have used that to their advantage in order to portray the online artist community as the antagonists, luddites standing in the way of human progress. Baku (referencing "human progress" in the previous text): once again, very funny way of wording "hype based marketing" Tony: the birth of these programs is predicated on a violation of our principles so egregious it aught be considered an act of war, and yet these monsters expect praise for creating the engine of our destruction.ALT
Slide Title: “You can’t say that AI art isn’t real art.” That’s not what we’re arguing about, we’re arguing about who gets to determine what art is worth. “Value is determined by the free market!” Says who? Money is fake my guy. I think the value I assign my own art supersedes the values assigned by an imaginary “market.” “You’re just afraid of losing your job, but it’s survival of the fittest.” You’re just afraid of a strong community of othered identities that cannot easily be controlled because they don’t worship capital, so you justify your attempts to destroy them under the thin veil of superiority. Baku: literally if we have universal access to housing, water, food, and electricity I will immediately stop caring about this “You’re just trying to guilt us.” Yes? Tony: silicon valley could use more fear of crossing us - if you replace us we have nothing to do but claw down your precious systems. we have more to lose.ALT
Rebuttals to Common Justifications (2/3) “AI art democratizes art! / It allows anybody to be good at art. / You’re gatekeeping art!” The online artist community is anti-gatekeeping and non-proprietary, and has built a large library resources and tutorials that can be accessed for free. Many professional artists lack a formal art education, but cultivate their skills through these resources and the guidance of the larger community. You are not entitled to skill without work. “Being anti-AI art is ableist!” It’s insulting to tell a group that is largely disabled that they are being ableist for defending the community that they, the actual disabled people, actively work to sculpt into an accessible and inclusive space. you aren’t allowed to say shit about what’s ableist if you aren’t disabled, zero exceptions, fuck you guys for talking over us, you’re part of what’s wrong with humanity. “It’s the same as collaboration/remixing that occurs in traditional art making.” Art is not created in a void. Collaboration and creative remix require both intention and community interaction. AI image generators supply neither of those things. Sunny: Collaboration is about consent. So in this case, AI art is the toxic partner that just takes without permission and claims credit for your success. Yikes
.dump his ass.ALT
Slide Title: Rebuttals to Common Justifications [3/3] “It’s just a tool. There’s nothing wrong with tools!” In the same way that algorithms reflect the biases of their programmers, design is not value-neutral. AI image generators were designed without the input of artists–who should be ranked among their primary stakeholders–and thus reflect none of the community’s concerns or values. They continue to be built and used while actively fighting any attempts by the community to address these issues. It is not “just a tool” and its continued use is at best ignorance and at worst malice or indifference. Baku: knife safety is a thing, y'know. “It’s on the internet, so it’s free game. Don’t post your art if you don’t want it stolen or scraped.” Victim blaming. Next question. Tony: big talk from cowards who won’t release their own source code. y’all stole our work but won’t post your own, i see how it is. “You’re making a blanket statement about AI. It can definitely be used creatively, and for good!” I’m sure it can; however, the online artist community, which includes so many marginalized people, has been taken advantage of and abused far too many times over the past few decades. From the refusal to treat digital art as “real” art to NFTs to AI image generators, there is a history of technology being employed against artists in devastating ways. There is no more good faith left to believe that this time will be different.ALT
Slide Title: In Summary AI image generators frame art only as a product, its value a function of profit in the capitalist machine. They function by stripping away the time, effort, intention, context of thousands of art pieces, returning a meaningless slurry. In order to maximize revenue, they work to remove the artists from their art, pushing the marginalized further to the margins. Tony: be gay, do crimes, and don’t ever trust a corporation, no matter how shiny and futuristic their product is. Baku: "what product? I'm using it for free" congrats! you are! you're the product! they're selling you to the shareholders! we have been here for a decade already! Sunny: AI art is the equivalent to the infamous school "teach to test" model. You scrape up random bits and regurgitate just different enough to not look like you are plagiarizing directly. There is no meaning to the ai art because the sole purpose is to profit . There is no heart of meaning to remember. Meanwhile art made by an artist lives rent free and has a long lasting affect..ALT
Slide Title: Conclusion Nearly all arguments in favor of the technology as it stands now are grounded in an unchallenged assumption that the values of capitalism trump all others. They Do Not As the creators of the art that fuels their machines, our values should supersede those who would use our work without our consent. Tony: i get to choose how my art gets used, and i set the price for access, because it’s fucking mine?? tech bros can understand software piracy and proprietary code, but the second an artist shows them a pair of anime boobs these drooling code monkeys understand the difference between “mine” and “yours” no better than a toddler. You almost certainly won’t be able to convince AI Evangelists to value art the way artists do, but you sure as hell shut them down and reclaim control of the narrative. Sunny: They don’t value their art either unless someone else is benefiting off them. It’s like the muskrat suing other AI companies for scraping his website because he wanted to do it himself.ALT
Slide Title: Acknowledgements Based on the paper Art in the Machine: Value Misalignment and AI “Art” by Alyse Marie Allred and Dr. Cecilia Aragon Maybe consider reading the actual paper? I worked hard on it. Anyways, link below. Presentation: FireflySummers editor/meme specialist: anthony collins I'm also here: baku nguyễn Certified/Licensed Art Teacher P-12/Merch Artist: Sunny Special Thanks: bulkhummus & techcat for their feedback; sabertoothwalrus, ash-and-starlight, miyuli, hometownrockstar, cinnamonrollbakery, & deoidesign for their wonderful tutorials If you’re interested in my research and wanna chat, you can dm me on tumblr or send me an email at: allreda@uw.edu Baku: if you're interested in making things, make things! there is so much effort put into every material thing we share our lives with and capitalism alienates us from that reality. we should acquaint ourselves with that effort more often. Tony: if you’re interested in advocating for ai art, you’re welcome to meet me in the waffle house parking lot. with proper application to the shins, a wheelchair can be contagious đŸ˜·ALT

FireflySummers’ Guide to Arguing Against the Use of AI Image Generators

(AKA I hate AI image generators so fucking much that I published a whole ass academic article on it)

Read the Paper: Art in the Machine: Value Misalignment and AI "Art"

Citation: Allred, A.M., Aragon, C. (2023). Art in the Machine: Value Misalignment and AI “Art”. In: Luo, Y. (eds) Cooperative Design, Visualization, and Engineering. CDVE 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14166. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43815-8_4

The purpose of the original paper and now this post is the following:

  1. Provide at least one academic article that you can cite. (Full paper + citation available below)
  2. Make explicit community values that have previously been implicit, in order to better examine your own perceptions of the online artist community, and where you sit within it.
  3. Provide rebuttals to common pro-AI talking points, with the intention of shutting down the conversation and reclaiming the narrative. 

What this paper and post cannot do:

  1. Act as a sole authority about the online artist community and its values. We are not a monolith, and it is up to you to think critically about what, exactly, you want to take away from this discussion.
  2. Provide a way to convince AI Evangelists that what they’re doing is wrong and bad and needs to stop. You will never convince them. Again, focus on shutting them down and reclaiming the narrative.

Final Disclaimer: I'm a very fallible researcher who is still very much learning how to do academia. I cannot speak for the entirety of the online artist community or fanartist community. We all have different lived experiences. I have done my best to include diverse voices; however if you have concerns or critiques, I am open to hearing them.

If you show up to debate in favor of AI image generators, you will be automatically blocked.

Credits:

Editors, Meme Experts, and Annotators: @starbeans-bags, @b4kuch1n, @cecilioque.

Tutorial Examples: @sabertoothwalrus, @ash-and-starlight, @miyuliart, @hometownrockstar, @deoidesign, @cinnamonrollbakery

If you have read this far, thank you very much. I hope that you have found a constructive lens for approaching the war with AI image generators, as well as a new tool for shutting down debate and reclaiming the narrative.