AI art — A case for introspection

For the last few months I have been using an AI model called Disco Diffusion. Though, there are other, better models on the market — Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, etc. I prefer the output of Disco. Mostly because it doesn’t make me feel like a thief.

The other models blatantly steal the styles of other artists not to mention the other issues attached with them regarding sourcing of data and other legalities.

And from my perspective I had gotten into using AI with the intention of speeding up my workflow, not to infringe on someone else’s style or artwork. It was meant to be an assistant, not a ripoff.

But over the last few weeks I have been torn around the idea of using it any further and feeding into the beast. Mostly because of the hidden practices and ethical questions that have arisen around the companies themselves.

Listing below some of my preliminary research on the subject.