AI modification of Japanese woman's art highlights battle amid evolving tech August 22, 2023 (Mainichi Japan) Japanese version The illustrator's work is shown on the right next to the image altered by AI at top left, in this image from Twitter (the platform now known as X), where she reported the damage. (Only the image portion has been cropped, with the woman's permission.) TOKYO -- In December 2022, a female artistic creator living in western Japan's Kansai region received an alert from a user on Twitter (now known as X) about one of her drawings. "Your image has been modified," the user told her. An illustration of a young girl that she had posted on an image sharing site several days earlier had been reproduced in practically the same form with minor details altered, and then posted on a blog she had no knowledge of. On her illustration, she had drawn a symbol objecting to the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) but this had been erased. "Who would do that ブランドスーパーコピー激安  and why?" she wondered. 'An image thousands of times cuter that would sell well' The original image depicted a girl glancing sideways with her tongue poking out. In her left hand was a pencil and brush 激安 ブランド  and in her right hand she was clutching a smartphone. The image posted on the blog had the same kind of form and the character was wearing a similar hat 激安コピー  but with the left hand hidden. Her outfit was also changed to show more skin. The blog revealed that the woman's illustration had been inserted into an artificial intelligence program to create the new image. There were also some provocative remarks: 'It's an image that is thousands of times cuter than the original that would sell well!!" "Are you rejecting AI, which can turn out 'pictures that sell'?" The female creator was incensed. Skills and pride trampled on The reason the female artist created her image in the first place was because she was opposed to the use of AI in producing illustrations. "Art is about expressing your feelings and what you want to say. AI isn't art; it's just hashing other people's work," the woman thought. She spent three days drawing the work. In the original illustration 激安 ブランドコピー  the girl is holding a smartphone with a "No AI" depiction. When the artist released it online, she added the explanation, "I do not welcome AI art," and "The web is flooded with AI that draws upon existing art and synthesizes it." The blog, however, completely rejected her thoughts, as "meaningless" and "stupid." She asked the company operating the blog to deal with it but it brushed her claims aside, saying the image was "within the scope of freedom of expression." The woman says she has loved drawing ever since she can remember ブランドコピーバッグ  and when she was a student, she studied sketching and oil painting. She currently creates and sells illustrations and animated videos while doing another job on the side. "I feel as if AI has trampled on the skills I've cultivated over many years," she said in frustration. We're artists using AI After a while, the blog containing the altered image was deleted. But in late April 2023, the same altered imaged was posted on another website. The account name was different from that of the blog, but the person who posted it revealed, "It was me who posted the altered imaged without permission." A post also appeared on Twitter under the same account name, arguing that it was no longer possible to survive without incorporating AI in creative activities. "We are artists who use AI to pursue new expressions and ideas," the post read. It was not this woman alone who was targeted. "Attacks" in which the images of creators opposed to the use of AI were modified with AI continued, and a message on the website read, "I'm going to take everything you lot have. If you don't like it, quit the internet." After that, the messages on the website were deleted. In July the Mainichi Shimbun reached out to the user on Twitter, but received the following response. "You want to write a biased article about me? What boring nonsense." There were no further replies after that. (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Harada, Digital News Group) Font Size SML Print Go to The Mainichi Home Page Related Articles Editorial: Japan must discuss protecting creative workers' copyrights from generative AI Japan arts workers' survey reveals harm from generative AI, calls for copyright action