RANT TIME!! So apparently the new scratch terms of service say that they’re gonna use scratch projects to train generative ai. This is super messed up and i would have a lot of swear words to say about it if that were allowed. As someone who has been using scratch since 7-8 years old(dont remember if i was 7 or 8 but it was def one of the two), im very disappointed and disgusted. There are so many reasons why this is wrong and im gonna list some of them here cuz im really mad: 1- Generative ai steals art. Its not like thats a choice that you can opt out of, if you post images on the internet, ai is gonna use it to turn into its own images. 2- The environmental impact is horrible. Many ai programs waste approximately 6 billion gallons of water a day, while the average household(at least in my country) uses only 900 thousand gallons per year. 3- Ai is dangerous, especially for children. Ai has stolen people’s identities, caused serious mental issues for people, done very gross inappropriate things i cant say on scratch, and even driven people to take their own life. Even if the ai on scratch isn’t doing any of those things, scratch is still a childrens website and it is very risky to have ai on it. There are so many more reasons why ai shouldn’t be on scratch that i could list, but i dont want this to be too long so ill stop there. Anyway, its super messed up to have ai on scratch and i really hope that the scratch team will do something about this. Heres what you can do to stop the ai problem: 1- Make a project like this one! The more people who speak up about it, the more likely the scratch team is to care! 2- Sign this petition! https://www.change.org/nomoreaionscratch You dont have to if you dont want to, but petitions are always a good way to bring important issues to attention. 3- If the scratch team doesn’t do anything about the ai problem within the next month, boycott the website! Remove your projects, stop posting, and stop interacting with the website altogether. If theres enough of a decrease in website activity, the scratch team will be more inclined to do something about it. Also removing your projects will stop ai from stealing your art, so thats pretty much the only way to opt out if they dont fix this problem. If you’re still here, thank you so much for reading all that and i hope that you will try to help! Have a nice day :)
Art by me Song is “Sometimes” by Alex G
