This week several companies found themselves on the wrong side of the internet pitchforks. Posts like this went viral on X.

The AI image generation controversy in a nutshell is this: all image generators were trained on human art. This was done without permission (except Adobe’s Firefly, which used Adobe’s stock library and public domain images). Artists feel that their labor has been exploited in service of replacing them.

(Text generation, like ChatGPT, is much less controversial, although not entirely so.)

As you can see in the examples above, artists spotted these uses of AI imagery. AI art has telltale quirks that identify it as AI-made. If you use AI art publicly, people will know.

If you want to use AI art but you also want to do the right thing, what are you supposed to do?

In my opinion, AI image generation is ethical in these circumstances.

If you do extensive editing, compositing, and other transformations

This is my most important point in favor of AI: if you take AI art, then copy, transform, and combine it into your own creation, that art becomes yours. It’s no longer an AI creation, it’s a human creation. For instance, this clip from Fabdream wasn’t just spit out by an AI. This artist worked hard to create this.

You’re a hobbyist

If you use AI art non-commercially and for fun, that’s fine. Just like using uncleared music samples in free music you give away is fine.

AI art is not the final product

If you use AI imagery as a step within your process, like for storyboards or prototypes, that seems fine. Just like an illustrator can use another person’s illustration temporarily during the creation process.

You’re in AI

If you work in AI or are a member of that community, using AI creations is probably fine because your role is to develop and experiment with these tools. For instance, I used AI art in my new course about creating content with AI.

Remember, even if you’ve been conscientious, if use AI art publicly, you might get negative attention.

When is it not okay to use AI art?

You’re a business

This is the big one. It is primarily businesses that hire artists or license imagery. That means a human artist potentially doesn’t paid if you opt for AI art. AI imagery is simply not worth the negative attention or the meager cost savings. Stock imagery is cheap, plentiful, fast, and high quality. If you’re in a business or run one, just steer clear of AI art. (Again, unless AI is your business.)

You’re in the art community

If you’re in the traditional art community, using AI art will likely offend lots of your peers.

Here are the main things to consider.

• Am I displacing a human artist?

• Could I have hired an artist or licensed stock instead? 

If the answer is yes, it might be best to hire someone or license stock.