Meta Updates: What Now?
The news of Meta’s new AI policies shook the art world. For months it sent us scattering in droves, leaving Meta platforms by the tens of thousands and taking up residence in new spaces like Cara and Pinterest. Discussion pointed towards a slow and inevitable slide into an Internet where nothing is safe. What’s the latest?
I’ll admit I let my fear take the wheel for a while. I panicked and took down all of my artworks after seeing statements from artists that I trust and respect. Now that things have had some time to settle and I am feeling more secure, here’s the skinny.
There is widespread confirmation that Meta purposefully makes it difficult to request to opt out of the new policies. After the initial confusion, most of which I shared in my artist’s co-op, wonderful fellow artist Claire sent me this article: https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/14/1093789/how-to-opt-out-of-meta-ai-training/ In it, the author Melissa details the steps to successfully opting out of Meta’s AI using legal verbiage. She said, “I was successful in my request by simply stating that I wished to exercise my right under data protection law to object to my personal data being processed.” I’ve submitted my own request and will post an update when I get an approval or rejection!
I’ve also submitted a request for an invitation for WebGlaze. I didn’t detail this in my last post, so I will now. Glaze is a form of protection against AI. It takes a piece of media and makes it generally unreadable to AI systems, protecting it. While it’s complicated to explain how Glaze works, the gist is that Glazing a piece of art or photography ensures that it can’t be properly read when fed into the AI machine. (For more info on that, visit https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/what-is-glaze.html)
Glaze and its more sinister counterpart, Nightshade, are a hopeful sign that artists and programmers alike are working to protect our material while the American legal system drags. It is important to say that protecting our works with our signatures or watermarks will go further than ever towards making absolutely sure we retain total control over our works when sharing them on the Internet.
Curiously, I find myself closer than ever to all of my artist friends. We speak of the coming AI upset in hushed tones. Misinformation swirls, lawsuits appear in the headlines, Elon Musk aligns himself with our agenda and we laugh at him. Reactions are varied. Artists that I love and respect do nothing. Others call for action.
To my non-artist friends, I hope that this issue doesn’t seem superfluous. I hope that you can recognize how real and raw the wound is. That the theft of our work is illegal, and like all crimes, it merits punishment. It merits new regulations and pushes boundaries. It hits us in a soft spot. I hope that while you watch AI steal our work and steal our jobs that you stand by us, support us. Buy our work. Help us fight this. Be vocal about what is happening.
Til next time,
VJK
