Thread by @stealcase

Last night, two communities clashed.

An AI [re]generated image had won a Cover Art contest.

Artists quickly saw it was AI, but Authors were unconvinced: they wanted reasonable proof, not hearsay.

(Mark Lawrence, the host, has been nothing but gracious. Do not bother him)
🧵/?

https://twitter.com/Mark__Lawrence/status/1662768865972043776

Many artists pointed out specific issues with the image: typical AI artefacts that come from image generation that a trained eye can easily see, but harder for a layperson to understand the significance.

Authors remained unconvinced: needed better proof.

https://twitter.com/ETSperry/status/1662554145000157185?s=20

Some artists tried to appeal to reason with AI detection software.

They were not listened to, but I understand: AI detectors are NOT reliable, and they have their own issues (often they train their OWN AI on the input images! ☹)

So more proof was needed

https://twitter.com/Kiaju250/status/1662669658908946434?s=20

Mark Lawrence graciously asked the artist Shaun Mauss and the the author Mathew Prindle for some simple proof that it isn't AI.
They were given reasonable time to get home and provide it.

BUT! Shaun Mauss FABRICATED 😱 evidence: process images + .psd file

https://twitter.com/Mark__Lawrence/status/1662606057397538816?s=20

This proof seemed to convince the Judges as well as an author community of 2500(!) on Facebook.
But artists on twitter knew this was AI.

Every piece of evidence was fabricated. @Orugario_ showed how the process sketches were faked, how the artist lied.

https://twitter.com/Orugario_/status/1662666552787759105?s=20

I dug into the psd file, and saw what I expected to see: the images had been copied and pasted from elsewhere, not drawn in the PSD (as the artist had claimed).

This discrepancy is, to me, the most repeatable "AI detection" methodology.

https://twitter.com/stealcase/status/1662622822244446214?s=20

@Zn2plusC (who was cooking Lasagna at the time) discovered that some of the layers were photoshop "smart objects", and the filenames literally had prompts in them, which happens in MidJourney.

Irrefutable and damning.

https://twitter.com/Zn2plusC/status/1662626612486213632?s=20

And finally, @TheBrianPenny put two and two together and realized "Hey, we can literally find the generation in the MidJourney Logs using the filenames".

So they did. Every detail piece in the image was AI [re]generated.

https://twitter.com/TheBrianPenny/status/1662645886814666752?s=20

This seemed to be enough to convince most people that the image was AI generated.

To illustrate the point and to cap off the story, @TrevyLimited reminds us that AI generated images are not copyrightable.

https://twitter.com/TrevyLimited/status/1662734648739282944?s=20

A minority of authors & artists feel there is some bad blood going around: feeling victimized, bad vibes, a witch hunt.

But a "witch hunt" implies innocence: this was an accurate accusation.
And I feel hopeful: it's clear to me now that evidence is VERY hard to fake. #TeamHuman

I no longer worry that artists have to "document every step" of their process.
It's good to do for social media and other reasons, but not necessary.

Because the proof is in the pudding: the .clip, .psd, .kra file, and a statement of their process.

If someone says they paint or draw, the file will always show evidence of their process.

If someone says they composite blender renders and do paint overs, there will always be evidence.

If someone says they collage and photobash, there's evidence.

If someone LIES, we CAN TELL

AI detecting software doesn't work.
I believe in community building and trust networks across domains. Getting second opinions. Because poetically, human connection is the best antidote to AI.

AI harms small creatives. Honest folks who just want to write, draw or make things.

So we should be kind to each other, approach each other with empathy, and listen.

The victims of AI are the Authors who are scammed, the Cover Artists who were cheated in a competition or lost out on a commission, and the readers who endure endless sludge

https://twitter.com/FletcherMR/status/1662794781360107521?s=20

As well as the countless hours of unpaid work that were vacuumed up to "train" these ML systems.

Many cover artists don't even know that many of the stock images they buy are AI generated.

So be kind, educate, listen, and advocate for legislation.

I don't think anyone embodies this attitude better than @katriaraden, who time and time again keeps a tone of understanding and patience.

This affects all creatives, so let's stand together.

https://twitter.com/katriaraden/status/1662779686051631110?s=20