Artists and researchers join forces to tackle the AI copycat menace

Artists and writers have raised concerns about generative artificial intelligence models using copyrighted, private, or sensitive images without their knowledge, consent, credit, or compensation. US illustrator Paloma McClain found out that her art had been used to train AI models without any acknowledgement or payment. To combat this issue, McClain started using Glaze, a free software created by researchers at the University of Chicago. Glaze alters the pixels of the original art in a way that is undetectable to humans but significantly changes the appearance for AI models. This allows artists like McClain to protect their work from unauthorized use by AI systems.