How artists behind Marvel, Alien, and the Matrix are fighting AI
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Derivative work
12 min read
Central to understanding the legal arguments artists are making against AI companies - the core dispute is whether AI-generated images trained on copyrighted artwork constitute unauthorized derivative works
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Economic bubble
2 min read
The article references a WIRED piece examining AI as potentially 'the Platonic ideal' of a tech bubble, and artists express hope that the AI bubble will burst - understanding bubble dynamics provides crucial context
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Concept art
11 min read
Several interviewed artists like Karla Ortiz and Reid Southen are concept artists whose specific profession is threatened by AI image generation - understanding this specialized field illuminates why these workers are particularly vulnerable
Greetings all,
I’m a little bleary today, as I wrote much of this after staying up late watching the Dodgers go 18 innings in a completely unhinged, 7-hour World Series game. I am not necessarily what you would call a Huge Sports Man, but you have to get into the playoffs or they kick you out of LA. My youngest was bouncing off the walls with his baseball glove on, and the oldest was keeping track of the count and the batting order, real Americana stuff. It was great.
A little housekeeping: I am, as previously threatened, going to attempt a somewhat casual Blood in the Machine Live Video/Podcast enterprise, as inaugurated some months back with my chat with the great Karen Hao. Next up is , an excellent tech journalist and author of the just-released GILDED RAGE: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley. We’ll do a live video chat for anyone who wants to join at 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST this Friday, October 31st, and will keep the comments open for questions. I’ll then release the episode in a newsletter edition afterwards and it *should* publish to all major podcast platforms then as well. Next week, I’ll have famed science fiction author and chief enshittification diagnostician Cory Doctorow on the bloody pod to discuss his new book on the topic—pencil in 4 PM PST / 7 PM EST on November 4th if you’d like to join the live chat.
I also have a long piece in WIRED this week examining the contours of the AI bubble according to a framework laid out by two professors who wrote the book on tech bubbles, and concluding it that AI may well be something approaching the Platonic ideal of the form. Check it out.
Finally, the only reason that I can do this work at all is because some of you are kind enough to support it by chipping in $6 a month or $60 a year. If you find value in reporting on topics like how workers and artists are weathering the AI boom—and how they’re fighting back, aka the subject of today’s edition—consider becoming a paid support so I can do more of it. Many thanks to all who do, you make this stuff possible. Thanks also to everyone who wrote in with thoughts and comments and words of encouragement ...
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