don't know what this is about? have a look here, this project by @CupieMaster explains quite well (as my way with words is not nearly as good lol) : https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1269751874/ until generative ai gives proper credit and compensation to artists (as well as being a purely opt-in feature) i will NOT welcome it. it goes against everything i stand for as an artist and someone passionate about creating. the sole thing that makes art so beautiful is that it was made with the wonderful mind of a human being. what happens when you get a machine to take that and just chew it up and spit it out? you get a lifeless, emotionless thing - not art. people who use/develop models do NOT understand what art is. ai should have been made to do the tedious, difficult tasks and make our lives easier, yet it was developed to ruin the fun things we have. i have always believed that art is for EVERYONE, regardless of age, skill, physical ability, or anything else for that matter - so why give people a reason to not bother? what's the point in picking up new hobbies anymore when you can just get a machine to do it all for you? no point in learning how to draw, no point in learning how to write, no point in learning how to make music, no point in learning how to animate, no point in learning how to code - cause it's already just there for you, right? it's so easy to see how this is able to completely kill the spirit of not only those who are already creators, but those who could have become creators. not even giving the people who use your platform a choice in whether they're OK with their art being taken from them and used in unfeeling ai training without their credit will push them away - and it certainly will for me. until at MINIMUM an opt-out option is provided, i will entirely cease posting on scratch. i do not wish to contribute to a platform that clearly sees no real value in its artists and i do not wish to continue feeding ai models. i have lost so much faith in this site and i genuinely see no reason to continue using it as long as this stands. i will keep a fair amount of my art up for a while (like my unjudged dtaes because my heart would ache to see the work go to waste, but i suppose all the work i've done thus far is a waste if it's gone towards scratch.) if you need to access any of my unshared projects, do let me know