Obtaining an image in a few seconds, from a sentence, a text which describes it: this is the principle of image-generating artificial intelligences such as DALL-E, Midjourney or Firefly. The results are spectacular, but where does the inspiration for these AI come from?
This is a lawsuit – and potentially a class action – that we haven’t heard the last of. January 2023: three artists file a complaint against three of the best-known image-generative AI platforms: Midjourney, Stability AI and DevianArt. Their fault, according to the three women: feeding their artificial intelligences with billions of images, for which these services do not have the rights.
They are therefore asking the American justice system to prevent them from continuing to use the pool of protected works with impunity. We can imagine the consequences for users of these services if the California Court ruled in their favor.
Unable to know which images are used
How can we know which images were actually used for one artificial intelligence to produce another? I asked the question to the Photoshop editor which now integrates Firefly, the in-house image generative AI. At Adobe, we say it clearly: it is impossible to know which images are used. Hence the importance of responsible and respectful AI.
The French image bank Fotolia, which has become Adobe Stock since its acquisition in 2016, now allows the Firefly editor to only draw on images for which the authors have given their consent. Adobe has even committed, since June, to covering the costs of a possible lawsuit, because of an image generated by Firefly:
“We are sure of our shot. We are so sure that we can say: go ahead, use it, and if there is the slightest problem, we will be there. That’s strong, explains Sébastien Deguy, vice president of 3D at Adobe. And then, personally, it touches me, I appreciate it, as a citizen, as a human. I find that super reassuring. And I saw the project born from the inside, within the company, and so I can tell you that it happened naturally.”
:quality(50)/2023/11/05/gettyimages-1482773070-65475e27de65c372170840.jpg)
Some publishers promise to cover attorney fees
Reassuring customers who do not want to take any risks is the objective. And this idea is starting to catch on. Microsoft, which has integrated its Copilot AI into Office 365 and Windows, also now promises to cover legal fees in the event of a lawsuit.
However, the disputes do not only concern artists: in mid-January, in London, the Getty Images agency also filed a complaint against Stability AI, claiming that millions of its images were used, in violation of the right to ‘author. How can she say that? Because the visuals generated by the AI started to carry the agency logo.