So, yeah. I like AI. Like, a lot. So here's my take on this: AI Art is not a bad thing, in my opinion. It's a way for people without resources to make them, well, make them. People will ask for a style, but they aren't going to steal YOUR art. Your art is specifically yours, it's your IP. That said, you did comply with the TOS upon account creation saying that you allowed Scratch to distribute it. And if you were or are under eighteen, then your parents and you had come to the agreement that that was okay. This is specifically stated under 8.2b of the Scratch TOS. Scratch has plug-ins. If we know Scratch, we know that Scratch will automatically tag projects that used AI under the project like they do with any other plug-ins. Scratch is run by humans, and one with hearts at that. Do they have automated moderation systems? Yes, because they cant handle hundreds of requests at once. Scratch doesn't do things with the intent to hurt. They're a non-profit. AI isn't bad. The people who profit off of it and use it can be. AI is trained by humans and has been trained enough to learn from data its collected. It's not it's fault that people are asking for replicas, nor is it's fault for complying. It's told to. And, while this may be controversial, AI isn't stealing your art. It's learning from it, though I can see why artists are scared of this. Emphasis on learning. It's learning similarly to how you did, only with datasets instead of words and pictures. Almost nothing you have made is completely and utterly uninspired. You have learned how to make it one way or another. Weather through an education or through your own iterations. AI does the same thing! It makes art over and over and over again. The difference is astounding from years ago to present. No one in Loafy's community, on Scratch in general, learned how to draw Warrior Cat's style without looking at it and going "I wanna draw like that." I haven't either! It is referencing your art and combining it with words to make the image, not *steal* it. If it wanted to steal it, if Scratch wanted to steal it, they would go: "Here's the original image without the watermark, go sell it." Not make something new. In the end, I stand by the idea of using AI for good. I like talking to, working through issues, and ultimately learning from it as it also learns from me. If you're upset about AI on Scratch, I get it. But, I can't wholeheartedly agree with everything against AI.
What I think of Loafy's take: If AI is implemented, there should be transparency. That's for sure. That said, only one big thing. Loafy made some very bold claims that make Scratch look like criminals...and they aren't. Let me restate: Scratch does not make money off of subscriptions. It's put directly into the paying of employees and funding of the website's servers. Scratch has used this opportunity to make the community *better*. Most likely, they implement AI as a perk because it's new and useful and they wanted it to come as a new perk ON the website so members don't have to wait to get perks of their subscription. The price of their membership is also a steal of a subscription, the features are absolutely worth the buy for young learners. It's only 50 bucks a year or 4.16 USD a month. The biggest and boldest claims that are, sorry, but, very much wrong. Scratch does NOT exploit it's users nor does it EXPLOIT CHILDREN. The term "Child exploitation" refers to very serious legal accusation and is not what's going on. Scratch has acted well historically as a non-profit. They're a ".edu" website. They focus on child safety as a primary goal. AI will reshape the industry, definitely, because historically -- it has. An "AI Art Style" is a stereotype. It can be easily proved someone made a drawing if it ever got to the point someone was stealing art. And it has. Most AI models will only generate images that look similar to characters and logos, and sometimes they'll straight up refuse to generate the photo. All in all, I have some moral conflicts with Loafy's statement. Though, I don't take it on her character or creator on Scratch. I just felt the need to address untrue issues with such a popular personal, as it has over 4K views. I get why artists are scared of the future and their art being stolen, but AI could very well be used to disprove the legitimacy of it. Your future isn't in as much stake as you may believe, it's just become more versatile. Like how video didn't kill the radio star, computer art didn't beat out paintings, 2D animation hasn't died to 3D, machines don't supply the factories. It changes how we'll work, not get rid of it. Your future is bright, even with AI.
