Procreate CEO ‘Really F*cking’ Hates Generative AI

If you’ve been paying attraction this past year, it seems each app—from Adobe’s Photoshop to Canva—is chasing the achromatic rabbit that is AI. James Cuda, the CEO of iPad-centric illustration app Procreate, came retired swinging Sunday with a elemental statement: “I truly f*cking hatred generative AI.”

In a connection posted to Twitter, Cuda said, “I don’t similar what’s happening successful the industry, and I don’t similar what it’s doing to artists. We’re not going to beryllium introducing immoderate generative AI into our products.”

We’re ne'er going there. Creativity is made, not generated.
You tin work much astatine https://t.co/9Fgh460KVu ✨ #procreate #noaiart pic.twitter.com/AnLVPgWzl3

— Procreate (@Procreate) August 18, 2024

The company’s page astir its plans for AI is likewise acerbic. It reiterates galore of the aforesaid complaints artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and different creatives person had astir AI creation generators. 

The largest AI models are built connected apical of billions of scraped images from the web, including the copyrighted enactment of thousands of nonrecreational and amateur artists. Some anti-AI advocates person adjacent suggested that artists poison their images to disrupt AI training.

On its page, Procreate says, “Generative AI is ripping the humanity retired of things. Built connected a instauration of theft, the exertion is steering america toward a barren future.” Procreate claims it does not person entree to users’ creation and does not way users’ activity.

Artists Throw Their Support Behind Procreate for Anti-AI Arguments

Artists online praised Procreate, particularly highlighting Cuda’s blunt phrasing. Concept creator Karla Ortiz wrote, “Now THIS is however a institution for artists supports artists.” Director and creator Jorge Gutierrez wrote, “Procreate 1, Adobe 0.”

Now THIS is however a institution for artists supports artists! By respecting and empowering them, NOT by taking vantage of them! Good connected Procreate for being connected the close broadside of history, and looking guardant to immoderate the squad does adjacent 🙌 https://t.co/l7qvHdOPwO

— Karla Ortiz (@kortizart) August 19, 2024

We’ve seen immoderate companies that seemed primitively hesitant oregon adjacent hostile to AI yet travel astir to extoll its virtues (whatever those whitethorn be). Getty Images antecedently sued Stable Diffusion makers Stability AI for utilizing the banal photograph sites’ images without permission. A fewer months later, it introduced its AI representation generator onto the platform. The institution claimed the AI exemplary was built solely with images the institution controls.

Getty isn’t unsocial there. Shutterstock and Adobe Stock besides created their ain AI representation generators based connected images each owns the rights to. The companies efficaciously grandfathered successful each existing creator who shared their enactment connected the banal representation sites and promised to wage them immoderate much wealth for utilizing their images for AI. 

Adobe Has Taken Heat for its Firefly AI Model

Artists online person compared Procreate’s anti-AI connection to Adobe, a institution that has practically drowned its products successful AI features. The institution has pushed Photoshop’s Firefly AI representation generator hard implicit the past months, expanding its photograph enlargement capabilities and entree among compatible platforms. That exemplary is based connected images taken from Adobe Stock, though a Bloomberg study from April revealed the exemplary besides incorporates different AI images into its grooming set.

Despite claims it’s lone utilizing contented it owns, the institution has been hopeless to spot up relations with artists. In June, the institution modified its presumption of work to connote it mightiness instrumentality users’ images and usage them to bid AI. It modified its TOS to clarify it won’t “train generative AI models connected your oregon your customers’ contented unless you’ve submitted the contented to the Adobe Stock marketplace.”

Last year, respective high-profile artists sued big AI companies, including the makers of Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, alleging the AI companies stole their copyrighted enactment without permission. Last week, the California justice supervising the case, William Orrick, fto the lawsuit move forward into discovery.