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Is training an AI on a specific artist's style without permission theft or just a tool?
I spent 3 hours arguing with a guy at a coffee shop about this last week. He said it's no different than a human studying another artist's work to learn. I said it's different because the AI copies the exact patterns without consent or credit. Where do you draw the line between inspiration and theft?
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kai_park18d ago
Man that's a tough one because we all learn from someone but this is different. A human takes inspiration and adds their own twist, an AI just remixes the data without any understanding. If I trace a drawing vs study it to make my own thing, that's the line for me. The AI doesn't have a soul or intention, it's just copying patterns with extra steps.
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the_oscar18d ago
Exactly this happened to me last month when someone tried to pass off an AI painting as their "original style". I just asked them to show me their rough sketches and failed attempts from the process. A real artist has notebooks full of ugly first tries, crooked lines, and ideas that didn't work. The AI user had nothing to show because the machine did all the heavy lifting. I told them if they can't explain why they chose that specific brushstroke or color shift, then they didn't really make it. Its the difference between cooking from a recipe you understand versus just microwaving a frozen dinner.
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