Is ai painting based on temperament?

Reporter's survey: Does Ai paint, create or steal?

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2022-11-2417: 28 Shanghai newspaper account.

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Participants only need to simply describe the pictures they want to see in words, and AI can automatically generate related paintings ... Recently, the topic of # Ask AI to help me draw # on the Internet has caused extensive discussion.

Comic: Gao Yue

It is understood that AI painting uses artificial intelligence algorithms to create paintings. AI algorithm creates a painting by learning from a set of training images, and then creates a new painting according to the style of the training images. Drawing with AI is nothing new, but because of technical reasons, it has not received much attention. In recent years, with the maturity of AI technology, AI painting has attracted more and more attention.

Whether there is infringement of AI painting has become the focus of online content copyright disputes. Who owns the copyright of Ai's paintings? Is AI creating art or stealing art? Recently, the "Rule of Law Daily" reporter interviewed this.

AI painting 2 seconds out of the picture

A large number of related platforms have emerged.

Fill the picture content with "wheat fields, villages, windmills and wheat piles", choose oil painting as the style, and choose Van Gogh as the artist, with the size of 1: 1, without generating circular patterns ... In the artificial intelligence AI painting website, after the reporter inputs instructions according to the prompts, an oil painting similar to Van Gogh's painting style is generated on the screen in only two seconds.

The reporter used the currently popular AI painting tools. It is understood that this is a software or platform based on artificial intelligence algorithm, which can automatically iterate after deep learning and automatically draw pictures according to user instructions. Its most fundamental basic technology is the same as AlphaGo, the first artificial intelligence robot to beat the world champion of Go, which allows the system to deeply learn human works and thus produce imitation behavior.

Since the beginning of this year, domestic AI painting platforms have mushroomed. People can experience the fun of painting on various platforms at any time through mobile App, webpage, computer software and WeChat applet. The usage method is "create a picture with words". As long as you input the idea in text form, it will be driven by the algorithm to become a picture. It is worth noting that most AI painting platforms are free for users to use.

What is the level of AI painting? After testing a variety of painting tools, the reporter found that although sometimes the pictures generated by AI will look weird because the user's keywords are unclear, in most cases, a beginner or someone who has never been exposed to painting is unlikely to draw a picture as level as AI.

The rapid development of AI painting has also been responded by the market. The reporter saw on the "Idle Fish" platform that there were a large number of posts selling AI paintings, such as "13.7 yuan 30, free proofing in 5 minutes" and "customizable, 10 yuan each, with a large quantity of preferential treatment". Many sellers claim that they are "trained by professional painters" to ensure quality. On several online shopping platforms, there are also sellers who specialize in selling "AI painting keywords".

At the same time, there are also related positions on the recruitment software. The job content is to use AI painting to generate different styles of illustrations, and then refine them after screening.

In June of this year, the cover of collage style of a famous foreign magazine was generated with AI drawing tool. The editorial department of the magazine said that the drawing instructions they entered were the theme of this report, "the new frontier of artificial intelligence." After more than 250 attempts, the cover of this edition was finally determined.

Liu Chang (pseudonym), a self-media person from Datong, Shanxi, told reporters that most of the pictures on their official WeChat account came from the Internet or were customized by artists, and they spent a lot of time and money but rarely met their own requirements. With the free AI drawing tool, they finally don't have to worry about this problem.

Works become artificial intelligence imitation objects.

Ai painting copyright dispute case

Like many people, Zhao Yuan (a pseudonym), an illustrator of an animation company in Shanghai, is also concerned about the development of ai painting.

"In the past few months, employees of our company have been discussing AI painting, but everyone can't agree on whether what AI creates is a work of art.. Many people think that AI painting is imitation, there is no thought in the cold algorithm, and it is not a work of art, "Zhao Yuan said.

Then, can AI painting constitute a work and be protected by copyright law?

Wang, an expert in the national intellectual property expert database and a partner of Gaowen Law Firm, told reporters that China's Copyright Law clearly stipulates the originality of works, and works must be original and reproducible.

"AI painting seems to be machine-generated rather than directly completed by human beings, but its essence is the result of applying algorithms, rules and templates. It is an algorithm creation, which embodies the developer's thought and mental work, and there is obvious manual intervention in the early stage. This generated content involves the expression of human thoughts, is original and reproducible, and meets the requirements of the' copyright' of the work. " Wang said to him.

Wang believes that in the AI painting software on the market, the painting style and painting content of AI painting are determined by users themselves. AI painting, like ordinary painting, can reflect a certain level of intelligence and the author's personalized expression. AI has no independent personality, and it seems that it is not an author in the sense of copyright law. However, the process of "machine learning" is a humanized creative act, and the content generated by it has the appearance of a work in the form of ideological expression, which should be protected by copyright law.

At the same time, some famous artists complained on social platforms that their works have recently become imitations of AI paintings. He searched the Internet for names, and all he found were AI's paintings, but all his works were submerged.

The reporter noticed that many works given to Ai by Hello were reprinted without authorization, which was simply piracy. At present, many people have posted on the Internet that the works obtained through AI are very similar to the styles of some painters, and some types of works are almost "copy and paste". There are also many painters who declare that "it is forbidden to make AI paintings with my works".

Is it illegal to use a large number of creative works protected by copyright to train AI without permission?

On the issue of copyright, both AI painting software TIAMAT and Midjourney choose to use copyright-free pictures in the material library to avoid copyright disputes. Baidu said that if the generated pictures released by relevant platforms infringe the rights and interests of the original authors in the future, Baidu will provide complaint feedback channels and rights relief channels for relevant rights holders to deal with quickly.

Huang Qunhui, a lawyer at Beijing Heying Law Firm, said that it is legal to study works for non-commercial purposes. That is, it is not illegal to simply use existing picture works for learning. As a copyright owner, a painter has the right to prohibit others from using his works for profit, but he cannot prohibit individuals from studying, researching or appreciating them, which is also a restriction on the author's rights by law.

"Copyright law protects expression, but not ideas. If AI software is learning the creative ideas of pictures, rather than simply copying and pasting, then this case is not infringement, and there is no need to obtain authorization and pay royalties. If AI software simply copies and pastes the original painting, you need to authorize and pay the usage fee. " Huang Qunhui analyzed.

According to He Keren, a lawyer of Beijing Jincheng Tongda Law Firm, the author's statement that "my work is forbidden to be used in AI painting" may not produce its expected effect. "As long as the work is public, it is equivalent to allowing the public to contact, appreciate and learn, and it is impossible to prohibit being crawled by the AI ? ? database. If this kind of learning and reference to AI is within the reasonable scope permitted by law, from the perspective of encouraging the creation and dissemination of works and promoting cultural development and prosperity, this excessive restriction may not be supported by law. "

He Keren said that the author mentioned in the current copyright law must be a natural person, so Ai cannot be an author. If the software is only used by developers, the copyright of the resulting AI works should belong to the developers.

"If the software has been put into the market and used by the majority of users, it can actually be regarded as that the user entrusts the artificial intelligence development team to run the artificial intelligence software and complete the creation of its designated works according to its requirements. The resulting works can actually be classified as commissioned works in the Copyright Law, and its ownership is agreed by the client and the trustee through the contract. If the contract is not clearly stipulated or no contract is concluded, the copyright belongs to the trustee. " He Keren said.

Perfecting the relevant provisions of copyright

Promote the healthy development of the industry

Due to the rapid development of AI painting technology, the relevant laws and regulations are not perfect, and the theory and practice are controversial. At present, the proof of infringement and rights protection involved in AI works are still relatively complicated issues.

Huang Qunhui said that the common criterion for judging whether AI paintings are infringing is "contact+substantial similarity". Specifically, the infringer needs to have the possibility to contact the works, and the two works are similar in substance, and these two conditions can be met at the same time to constitute copyright infringement. It is not possible to identify infringement just because "the styles of the two works are very similar".

In He Keren's view, due to the rapid development and changes of AI technology, the randomness of material selection, the fuzziness of blending methods, and the traces of "plagiarism" are easy to avoid from a technical point of view, such cases are faced with difficulties in obtaining evidence and providing evidence.

"From a practical point of view, when an artist finds that his works published on the public platform are likely to be crawled as AI learning materials, he has even seen similar performances in the generated AI paintings. In order to protect his rights and interests, it is suggested that he can contact the corresponding website or software company in time and ask him to delete the relevant data of the work. At the same time, we should pay attention to preserving the evidence that the work was grabbed and copied, and fix and save the evidence in time as needed. " He Keren said.

Regarding all kinds of copyright issues in AI painting, Wang Jian suggested that the relevant provisions of the existing legal system should be improved in time, and the Copyright Law and other laws and regulations should be widely publicized. At the same time, industry knowledge should be condensed to form a work guide and industry norms on copyright in the field of AI painting in time.

In August this year, Jason Allen, an American game designer, won the first prize in the Colorado Expo art competition with an AI painting "Space Opera House". This has greatly changed the public's perception of AI painting-AI painting may have surpassed the level of human painting.

In this regard, some people think that after the rapid development of AI, painters will face collective unemployment.

"It is undeniable that some ordinary painters may be greatly impacted, but I think AI painting and human creation are not a life-and-death relationship. Painters can use AI to do auxiliary work, provide information and inspiration for painters and broaden their thinking. It also lowers the threshold for painting and allows more interested people to participate. " Zhao Yuan said.

Huang Qunhui believes that AI painting and painter painting may not have copyright disputes in the future and will develop in different directions. In the future, intelligent AI painting software will no longer copy and paste, but form its own unique material library under the condition of deep learning. These materials can be arranged and combined in different ways to form different works for screening. Most of these works present painting skills to the audience, but they are "not humanized enough". The painter's works, in addition to the creative skills, present the audience with more humanized thinking and expression, and the creative emphasis of the two will be completely different. Therefore, Ai painting will be an independent art form.