Sat with Ted Chiang at @NeurIPSConf lunch ytd & someone in AI brought up democratizing art-making.

It was a candid chat so I was like, hey, can I just say something?—I really hate the word "democratize" used this way. Just say "automating art-making." It’s more accurate. 1/ Ted put it better than me and asked, "Do you say we should democratize marathon running? Why not?

"If you want more people to run, you don’t give them mopeds." 2/

So which studio will be making the Olympics shooting anime? Pls call me to consult! 😂

I can give info for:
- Born at Olympic shooting range
- Represented team Singapore
- Trained in China & Korea
- Competed in World Cups
- Grew up w Olympians in diving & other stuff like Go 1/ I know my equipment, training camps, the dynamics of travelling to international competitions, and all the stories and romance that come with. 2/

https://twitter.com/zemotion/status/1819512046905708655

A thread on some Olympic shooting equipment from a retired shooter: 1/🧵

Misconception that our sights or glasses have super zoom built in:

There’s no zoom or magnification. We wear glasses if we’re short sighted. We don’t wear glasses if we aren’t. 2/

I won. I won my appeal.

The Luxembourg court has ruled that Jeff Dieschburg infringed upon my copyright when he used my work without consent.

Using a different medium was irrelevant. My work being 'available online' was irrelevant. Consent was necessary. 1/ This win means a lot—not just for me but also for artists & photographers everywhere.

It’s a reminder that copyright protects individuals from those that try to profit off our work without consent.

It reaffirms that our work being online doesn't mean we give up our rights. 3/

8 years ago, Google Deepmind created AlphaGo—an AI that defeated the best human Go player in the world & it shaped how I see art & AI.

In a new interview, Lee Sedol says he wouldn't become a pro again if he had known of AI today. This is heartbreaking— 1/ blog.google/around-the-glo…






Go has always been the most beautiful game to me. The sound of a stone on board, the simplicity of its rules and design. A person's playstyle is an expression of themselves—like seeing an artist's style in a painting—it's personal and meaningful. 2/

Words can't describe how dehumanizing it is to see my name used 20,000+ times in MidJourney. My life's work and who I am—reduced to meaningless fodder for a commercial image slot machine.

https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/status/1766185964676743251

My art is who I am. It’s dehumanizing to have it fed into machines where my background, history, & why I create lose all meaning.

And because I don’t want to see gen AI work made w stolen content, I built a platform to filter out gen AI images. What’s wrong with that??

Cont—

15,600+ people have been laid off in tech so far, in January 2024.

If you see an artist-hating person making the inevitable “learn to code” comment, you can tell them to fuck off.

A short thread on layoffs: 1/

In a survey of 900 business leaders who were asked about layoffs in 2024, 38% said it’s likely at their companies.

4 out of 10 said using AI is part of the reason: 2/ resumebuilder.com/4-in-10-compan…

As someone who knows what it means to be talented, let me tell you a story:

I was born in the Beijing shooting range, grew up with Olympians, and picked up air rifle after moving to Singapore. Within a few months, I hit the Olympic finals cutoff with no full-time training. 1/

https://twitter.com/zemotion/status/1744137459422888193

I was called a prodigy, an Olympic medal was expected. And you know what I did with that talent? I didn't win an Olympic gold.

Didn't even make the team.

I got some PTSD, tried to kill myself, & left the sport after 6 years. 2/

Junior portfolios at top studios can fit right in next to your art heroes in a book, or look so bad (subjective) you don’t know why they were hired.

This is because social media inflates good illustration as the goalpost, and for a concept role, that is often the wrong goal. 1/

https://twitter.com/palomamcclain/status/1741636869979578570

Good design is what will land you the job. Not godly rendering, and certainly not the average of regurgitated designs from Cyberpunk, Alien, or Final Fantasy.

For concept art, people want to see thoughtful research with execution. 2/

Indies using AI will impact more jobs than you think. Let’s discuss 3 scenarios:

In illustration, many junior-mid lvl artists make a living freelancing w/ indie authors, publishers, tabletop games, musicians. The pay is limited, but it’s a living. And AI is taking that away: 1/ To simplify, say a picture book pays $100/page x 12pgs. Artist takes 3 days per page, project takes 1.5-2mths. They earn $1.2k & pay some rent. If all indie author/creator decide to generate images, gigs dry up. Tens of thousands of artists in this market go out of work. 2/

Gen AI will remove jobs at a higher rate than it can create. One of few ways forward is for gvnts to tax those that use AI. So if much of workforce is eliminated, there can be social support for most of society who’ll have no jobs. If not taxed, AI only benefit corporations. 1/

https://twitter.com/discussingfilm/status/1686161614586740736

Eroding the protection of hiring people is often the first step. I was at an event recently where someone is developing AI to replace a job protected by trade org or union (not my field, so not 100% sure), and they’re counting on government to soften regulations with lobbying. 2/

I want to be transparent about why I'm building @Cara_HQ, and why it's more than just an ArtStation alternative.

The future and impact of AI art. A thread 👇 1/

https://twitter.com/zemotion/status/1606324182253346823

First off, the unethical issues with AI art need to be resolved by law and legislation. But once it has, AI art will become a fixture in production in multiple industries and significantly change the way art is created and consumed. 2/

I don’t know how our society managed to evolve to a point where so many can feel entitled to rob others' hard work and feel justified doing so. All the AI bros cheering that artists will lose their jobs—how can they not realize that many of them too, will lose theirs?

Very few jobs will be safe from automation.

I am devastated by the copyright ruling in Luxembourg today, which stated that my work lacks originality and therefore will not receive copyright protection in Luxembourg.

The basis of the ruling being that the model’s pose in my photo is not unique. 1/ But how can a photo’s copyright be based on a pose alone?

If having a unique pose is the premise for copyright protection of an image, then nearly all portrait works in the world will not have copyright protection. 2/

Some guy really ripped off my photo, won a €1,500 prize, exhibited in a biennale supported by the Luxembourg government, then tried to mansplain copyright infringement to me. Where can I find a Luxembourgish speaker to help? Unbelievable. instagram.com/p/CeQGjPru65e/ @gouv_lu @kult_min @CityLuxembourg Strassen Commune, the organizer, has deleted the IG post announcing the winners instead of contacting me directly.

They were cc'ed in this guy's email to me explaining how this work wasn't copyright infringement. I'm not sure if that means they basically plan to do nothing.