Welcome to the World of Generative AI: Protecting Your Artwork Online
As artists, the rise of generative AI can be a double-edged sword. While these AI models have the potential to create stunning pieces of art, there is a growing concern among artists about web crawlers scraping images from their websites without permission or compensation. The fear of having their work used to train AI models without consent is a valid one that many creatives grapple with.
Over the past four weeks, I delved into this topic to better understand how these AI models operate and to discover ways to safeguard artistic creations from being exploited by bots. The insights I gained were eye-opening, and I am excited to share them with you.
TL;DR – One of the simplest methods to protect your artwork online is by restricting AI crawler access to your website. Platforms like SquareSpace and others offer settings to prevent AI crawlers from extracting images. For more detailed steps and precautions, continue reading below.
In this article, I will take you on a journey into the world of text-to-image AI models, exploring the mechanics behind Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E 3. Furthermore, I will equip you with the knowledge to identify if these models have used your artwork for training purposes. Lastly, I will provide you with valuable advice and actionable steps to shield your creations from being pilfered by bots.