the scratch drama is crazy (ft. @theheroicgamer)

Instructions

[WARNING] This project was not created with the intentions of fear mongering, nor is it used to slander anyone. This project aims to serve an informational purpose of the events that have transpired, and to express my thoughts on the matter. Also, this project is gonna do a terrible job at explaining what's going on, as it's based on my current knowledge of everything. For better understanding, I'd recommend checking out the links in the note and credits. _____________________________________________ old indie design because praugers anyways You'll never guess what happened. Actually, no, I think you know already. It's become a real big deal as of, like, 1-2 days ago I think? Basically, Scratch updated their TOS, and people are, suffice to say, not happy. It quite literally says that our stuff will be used to train an AI model :fear: Though, there's a good deal of users who don't fully understand everything (myself included). So, I tried doing research on all of this (referring to the links provided earlier), and given the fact that I am a dum-dum, it was hard to understand stuff. But, here's what I got: - ST won't be using our stuff for generative AI, so we don't have to worry about our content collectively powering up an AI to make "art". Instead, our content will be used for commercial purposes (basically like advertising and stuff), and to train an AI model which, while it won't be for generative purposes, will be used for something else. - Courtesy of @-Add-Some-Color-, many artists have attempted, or are attempting, to "poison" their artwork (which I don't really get what that is). Again, the AI won't be used for generative purposes, so this is kind of a pointless endeavor. The best course of action would simply be to not post stuff you don't want used. - According to @kirbyfan767, "And mind you, you not only HAVE to accept this TOS to be able to keep using the site, but the TOS also contains an anti-arbitration clause. [In layman's terms, one can't sue them.]" You're not only forced to accept the new TOS, but you can't do anything about it. - Some members of ST weren't aware of this addition being added (thanks @CupieMaster for da info). I just added this so you, the people, could be aware that this wasn't a fully unanimous decision on their part. So PLEASE, don't even think about harassing them, or anyone else really. - ST released an update talking about what the AI will be used for. Instead of being used to generate AI "art", it'll instead be used as a sort of helper, which will assist scratchers with making projects and whatever else. To summarize the above information: ST has essentially forced users to allow them access to whatever they make for both commercial usage (advertising, promoting, etc.) and to train an AI of theirs, which will serve as an assistant that'll help users with making projects. With there being no option to opt-out of being a part of this, the only options we have are to either accept these terms, or just stop posting on here for good. This entire thing, regardless of what ST's intentions are, still sucks. The fact we can't opt-out or anything is, honestly, a terrible decision on their end. Many people are either appalled, disapproving, or even both, at how adamant ST is about this AI situation. I would recommend moving to another site to post, but... That's the thing, though. Many users on here don't HAVE other places to post content, either because of fear of what could happen if they did post somewhere else (I'm looking at you, twitter), parents not allowing them to do so, or because they've built a big enough reputation on here and don't want to have to start all over again. Of course, there's a multitude of other reasons why (though I personally fall under the third reason), which are all JUST as justifiable. To put it bluntly, you either suck it up and allow ST permission to use your stuff, find somewhere else to post your content, or just stop posting stuff altogether. I really want to say that things will turn out for the better in the end, I really do. But given ST's history of terrible decisions and whatnot, it's possible that this will just be another one of those moments. Needless to say, my expectations are quite low. [tl;dr] Scratch forces users to give them permission to use their stuff for AI training and commercial usage. That's all I got. If more information arises, then I may post another project covering it, or just update this project. Limbus reference time (I'm addicted to the game ok) Suddenly, one day... "The site... had changed."