It does feel like maybe too little too late, when there are so many shiny new ways to use AI, but maybe even thinking about WHY you're using it, and whether the tool offers greater creativity and efficiency to your work is worthwhile.
🚨BREAKING: coalition of two dozen unions call for action against AI at prestigious animation festival Animation workers announce town hall on Thursday in Annecy. From the statement: “GenAI is a technology that seeks not to support artists, but to destroy them. The absence of humans is a feature, not a bug, of AI art. It is not a tool. We do not “use” genAi – we negotiate with it to try and make it do the things we want it to do. GenAI promises only the loss of employment and livelihood for the millions of people worldwide that work at keeping the world connected through their art. (…) Consent: A reasonable balance between on the one hand technological innovation and on the other hand a sustainable and strong cultural and creative sector, requires that training AI with copyright-protected works should only be possible with the (informed) consent of the author(s) of those works. Compensation: Performers and creators should be fairly compensated for the use of their work including but not limited to illustrations, animations, writing, voicework, likeness, or image, in AI generated content. Controls: Creators — such as writers, musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, and other professionals — need to be able to govern how their works, identities, and creative inputs are used, adapted, or reproduced by AI systems. This control ensures that the creators’ intellectual property (IP), labour, and reputations are respected and that they receive fair recognition and compensation. In order for this to be realized, creators need to have an understanding on what AI – and particularly GenAI – entails; it is also necessary to build agency among them to negotiate relevant employment conditions. We call upon the regulators, lawmakers and governments to fight for culture and art and the value it provides, to draft and implement legislation that protects those workers and those rights. We call upon producers, showrunners, studioheads and production staff to understand and protect our creative culture and to prioritize both the workers and our work. We call upon all creative workers worldwide to unite. We ask that you support human made works. We ask that you speak up against the implementation of AI. We ask that you become informed and unionise with your fellow workers to protect our art and culture, our work and our livelihood.”
