Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Arts·AI Week

Can AI-generated art ever be ethical?

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E and Midjourney promise to make us all artists in seconds — but those tools are being trained using the work of real artists. Sinead Bovell and Michael DeForge break down why AI is in its ‘wild west’ era, and how artists are being affected.

Sinead Bovell and Michael DeForge break down how artists are being affected by the rising popularity of AI art

CBC Arts ·
A visitor takes a picture with his mobile phone of an image designed with artificial intelligence by Berlin-based digital creator Julian van Dieken (C) inspired by Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague on March 9, 2023. - Julian van Dieken's work made using artificial intelligence (AI) is part of the special installation of fans' recreations of Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" on display at the Mauritshuis museum. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION (Photo by SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images)
A visitor takes a picture with his mobile phone of an image designed with artificial intelligence by Berlin-based digital creator Julian van Dieken (C) inspired by Johannes Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague on March 9, 2023. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images)
14:15Is there any ethical consumption of AI-generated art?

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E and Midjourney promise to make us all artists in seconds — but it's not that simple.

Those tools are being trained using the work of real artists, made over thousands of hours.

While their artwork is training technology worth hundreds of millions of dollars, those artists aren't being paid for their contributions. Most aren't even asked for permission. So how can creators protect their work? 

Futurist Sinead Bovell and award-winning cartoonist Michael DeForge join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to break down why they say AI is in its "wild west" era, and how artists are being affected.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Sinead Bovell and Michael DeForge produced by Jane van Koeverden.

Related Stories