Viral AI Generator Lensa AI Sparks Renewed Outcry About Creators’ Rights
With artificial intelligence at the forefront of technology, it’s not surprising that the advancements have flowed over into the art scene, with image generators steadily gaining popularity.
One such example is Lensa AI, created by Russian firm Prisma, which has recently risen to the top of Apple’s App Store charts with the promise of turning anyone’s regular selfies into “magic avatars.”
The application works by tapping on the AI generator Stable Diffusion, which reimagines users’ self-portraits in different art styles resembling those of an actual artist, ranging from ‘Pop Art’ to ‘Anime’ and ‘Fantasy’.
Downloading 200 images in 4K might sound scary, but here’s the beautiful part about this feature. Absolutely the same amount of data is downloaded, and all the enhancements happen right on the device with the machine learning already in the app. pic.twitter.com/jo29P5E1fs
— Prisma Labs (@PrismaAI) November 28, 2022
However, considering the algorithm is trained on billions of images sourced from original artists on Flickr, DeviantArt, ArtStation, Pinterest, and more, there comes the ongoing issue of creators’ rights.
Many artists are rightfully upset that their work is being fed into these image generators without consent or permission, and unfortunately, it’s no different when it comes to Lensa AI.
I spent like five minutes and found dozens of AI generated Lensa images with fucked up "signatures" in the corners. So they're not even trying to hide that all this shit is just pulling from real artists real work, huh? https://t.co/c38KCvCHgT pic.twitter.com/3ucAb0CoJS
— Daniel Danger (@tinymediaempire) December 6, 2022
A Twitter user found dozens of images generated by the program featured botched “signatures” from the original artists, most of whom weren’t even aware their pieces were being used in the system, nor were compensated.
Others have pointed out that the AI lacks nuance when generating images for people of color, and could even be seen as oversexualizing many pictures uploaded by women.
Furthermore, it’s important to note that upon submitting a selfie to the application, you’re granting Prisma permission to use the images to further train the AI’s neural network.
the lensa ai joints whitewashed me #erasure why do i look like renesmee pic.twitter.com/WZiY9hjlSg
— neck romancer (@1000xp_) December 3, 2022
For example, writer Maya Kotomori told ARTnews that when she paid for the first batch of selfies, they made her look like a white woman, despite her being a fair-skinned black person.
The results were better on her second try, though she was struck questioning how ethical it was to be part of teaching AI to recognize racial nuance, and if this would “help or hurt society in the long run.”
While the art world continues to grapple with the proliferation of AI-generated art, many questions remain unanswered. Will artists eventually come to coexist with image generators online? Only time will tell.
Tried out the Lensa AI app and fed 20 photos of myself, and I have to say it really struggles with Asian faces. My results were skewed to be more East Asian and I’m absolutely not impressed. pic.twitter.com/WnyLKXQT8K
— Anisa Sanusi (@studioanisa) December 3, 2022
Saw a friend try the Lensa app, so I caved and tried the 50 avatar pack for fun (10 styles, 5 variations).
— Xandra van Wijk (@xndra) November 26, 2022
Some of the results are borderline racist cause it just served me random Asian girls that looked like the source material wasn’t adjust at all as if we all look the same 🤣 pic.twitter.com/BaQDbbHexu
[via Artnet News and ARTnews, cover image via Prisma Labs]
