The Brain Is a Noodle is not accepting AI-generated content at this moment
This includes images and text
With the rising availability of chatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) programs, I’m beginning to receive submissions with either AI-generated text or AI-generated pictures.
I understand that writers have begun adopting AI-generated pictures because of ongoing difficulties with stock photos not being a good fit with their written message, and/or even encountering copyright issues with photos that are meant to be free for commercial use.
Why I am putting submissions on AI-generated art + writing right now
As much as I am in the writing community, I am part of the art community. In particularly, independent artists have come out to identify that these programs have trained their algorithms using their art without their permission, resulting in creations that adopt not just their style, developed over years of hard work, but entire recognizable chunks within art.
Other communities have begun standing in solidarity with independent artists in protecting their intellectual property, including the development of the program GLAZE, which deters AI programs from scraping the internet indiscriminately for samples a) without creator permission and b) despite artists deliberately including information in their posts asking others not to repost their art.
Other platforms have started banning AI art from specific subreddits, encouraging instead that AI art is included in their own specific subreddits.
But AI art increases collaboration and fosters our own agency as creators! It supports disabled creators!
In the interim, I’m still researching and learning more about AI art and its impacts, so I’ve heard pushback in support of AI art for several main reasons.
Collaboration is often cited, including using concepts like sampling used in music as in Jazz. Collaboration also implies consent, that shared works are posted with the intention of being scraped for AI programs, which it often isn’t. Collaboration in art communities happens, but AI creates an imbalance whereby a piece that’s taken an independent artist 100 hours to make is scraped and remixed in several seconds. Remixing in music is different, relying on musical skill to incorporate sampled segment into a new piece of music. Having played Jazz for years, despite sampling familiar basics of other tunes in improvisation, it still takes years of practice and study to integrate sampled tunes into a harmonious improvisation that’s not a parallel for AI programs generating images in seconds with a text prompt.
Disabled creators have also always existed. This argument, to me, is a straw man, as if to say that AI is supposed to help disabled creators specifically, and to oppose it to be opposed to disability rights. Disabled creators have always existed, including being those original artists who spend 100+ hours on a piece painstakingly creating their own style. That style in itself incorporates what it means to be disabled, whether it means working on a different schedule (which is often why disabled artists find being freelance more flexible to fit their own needs), playing to their own strengths and forgoing able-bodied and/or neurotypical assumptions about art to challenge what art is.
What does this mean for my submission to The Brain is a Noodle?
In the interim, I am not accepting pieces that have AI-generated art. There are many options, some of which include
- If you want to submit the piece to The Brain is a Noodle, to change the photo to a properly credited stock photo piece created by a photographer or artist that has consented to and intentionally shared the piece for commercial use.
- If you would like to keep the AI art because it uniquely illustrates and accompanies your piece: Feel free to submit it to other publications that are currently accepting AI-generated content.
This is by no means a judgment or a conclusion
I waited for a long time before posting this, and have instead communicated directly with different writers about where I am with the research journey of learning more about AI and its implications. Thank you to the writers who have been supportive in seeing 3–5 private notes into one comment/reply to explain the complexity within the limits of what Medium allows us to share in private notes!
To be honest, I was kind of surprised AI would advance to a point this quickly in my own span of life that I would have to consider this for this publication. I’m still learning. And boy, is there a lot of information to go through, from ethical standpoints, to hearing from the independent creators and artists, to others who have benefitted from these programs. It’s a lot more complex than this interim decision to decide not to accept AI art.
So, if you have any opinions, thoughts, reflections, and/or complaints, feel free to leave them below! I’m open to suggestions as I continue to evolve alongside rapidly developing technology.
What happens to old pieces that have AI art?
In short, you are grandfathered in as I continue to learn.
In all hypocrisy, before AI art became popular, there was a meme version called CRAIYON and I have personally made my own post exploring weird creations like “The Brain is a Noodle” and other weird concepts. I can’t find it, but once I do, if I haven’t already, it will be demonetized. Others’ pieces will remain as they are, as I don’t retroactively apply new guidelines to old pieces.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support The Brain is a Noodle!
Thank you to everyone to continues to support The Brain is a Noodle, whether by reading, clapping, commenting, and/or submitting pieces! We’re (i.e., me, myself and I as EIC alongside a passionate but small squad of writers) a small bunch here on a loud platform, but it’s a fun journey.
I hope, despite the changes, we can continue on the fun!
❤
Hi, I’m Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) and I love cheese. But cheese does not love me back (lactose intolerant).
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