Thank you Brian for getting these testimonies and first-hand accounts. Harrowing reading on how AI impacts artists.

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing. These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

“The tech companies say their training data is their trade secret. But my voice is not their trade secret”. This line stated by NAVA President Tim Friedlander while testifying for AB 412 perfectly encapsulates our stance. Our biometric data, our copywritten materials, and our voices belong to us.

Our friends over at NAVA Voices just testified in front of their state assembly in California, emphasising that AI affects the livelyhoods of creatives across ALL disciplines. Solidarity ✊🏻

Great news from the Glaze and Nightshade team.

Update thread #2. Hemlock One thing we worked on is a different tool to complement Nightshade. We discovered a new attack on diffusion models that is more generalizable than Nightshade. It targets an entirely different part of AI training pipeline, basically making AI models poison themselves.

despite popular beliefs, incorporating "AI" in workflows does NOT reduce time. "when developers use AI tools, they take 19% longer than without—AI makes them slower" metr.org/blog/2025-07... the stark difference between forecasts and actual results in the plot is damming

Thank you so much, it warms the heart! It's quite easy to feel alone and confused these times, but there are so many bright sparks of change around... Art is a joy, a necessity and a journey and it ultimately befalls on us all to nurture others' bravery and prevent its ultimate commodification. :)

The wonderful people at DAIR are hosting their next podcast livestream in about 2 hours. Mystery AI hype Theatre 3000 is always insightful, entertaining, and cathartic. They also tend to liberally read and engage with chat.

arstechnica.com/security/202... the company providing the library/disservice that's integrated into browser extension is called Mellowtel

Now that more websites block AI crawlers, unscrupulous AI companies are now paying non-AI Browser Extension developers to add malware, that scrapes and sends website data to AI companies. They piggyback off of real users visiting websites to grab the site data.

Lovely animated cycle commission for Bodsterr on Twitch! Forested ruins and cats, from early morning to night - truly a pleasure! Cat animations and sprites assisted by the great Andrea Asperges. #pixelart #ancientruins

Zaebucca always makes such amazing pixelart. Take a moment to appreciate this loop. 🐈‍⬛️

Yes, I did sound the alarm on agentic AI's privacy threat, and rightly so. observer.com/2025/07/sign...

Hey #portfolioday. I'm Rachel, a hardsurface and environment artist in games. I take a lot of joy in making my art. Hope you like it!

#PortfolioDay I'm Bruno Prosaiko, a Brazilian freelance cartoonist and comic artist. Available for new services from mid-August. My Webcomic: prosaiko.itch.io/bizharr1 Instagram: www.instagram.com/prosaiko/ Tabletop Games: prosaiko.itch.io

Hi #portfolioday !! I’m Kuura, an illustrator from Finland and I draw a whole variety of things. I’m currently booked for the summer but if you’re interested to commission me later in the year, get in touch! ✉️ [email protected]

AI companies use algorithms to subtly influence and manipulate your thoughts and desires, shaping you into an ideal consumer. When an egomaniacal billionaire clumsily puts his finger on the scale, you get MechaHitler. This centralization of power and filtering of information is bad.

Good news from the US. The AI moratorium is no longer part of the big bill spending bill. Activists spent weeks calling their senators and representatives, writing letters, making a fuss, and it succeeded. We must celebrate the victories and fight on. Solidarity ✊🏻

Meta needs all the training data and talent it can get, but has no money to license copyrighted works for AI training. They instead use everything on Instagram and Facebook, and potentially in the future: directly from your camera roll.

All of Meta's denials ultimately boil down to 'we are not CURRENTLY training AI on your camera roll'. AI training should require clear and enthusiastic consent, not buried in the ambiguity of "will they/won't they".

Good day as any to delete Facebook, Instagram, and/or Threads if you have not already The fact that Meta will not rule out using private photos on your camera roll to train AI is abominable, full stop futurism.com/meta-sketchy...

For those not yet in the know, Vizcom is a generative ai program designed to slip right into the concept art process- the folks selling it are moving quickly & quietly to get it into as many studios as possible. I’d link videos etc but I don’t want to give them views. They deserve nothing

If I hear you're using vizcom for your concept art, I will find you and personally push you into a locker

Here's a paper we published last year on consumer resistance to sociotechnical transitions under neoliberalism. It's qualitative work on the cashless society context, but our conclusions generalize to AI as well. doi.org/10.1086/731912

public pushback, refusal and resistance remains the main avenue of change so yea... counting on it www.wired.com/story/genera...

These tools were sold under the pretence of making work faster, easier, and producing better products. Yet more often than not, we find they make the world duller, work less meaningful, and the products worse, while enriching the few. And people are catching on.

Hey, before panic ensues, it isn't over yet! Fair use is determined on a case by case basis. This is a particularly pro-tech judge, yet made a vibe based decision which hinges on anthropomorphising algorithms. The judgement can still be appealed. Even as is, this is a loss for Anthropic.

There have been very few rights afforded to workers that have been granted without struggle. When new technology is developed, some companies try pretending that existing legislation does not apply to that technology, to gain advantage. So we must always be vigilant and fight for what is right.

#authorsrights #humanrights @europeanwriterscouncil.eu and other creatives' organisations urge MEPs to respect and defend human creativity and creatives' rights against the exploitation of #ai @ceatl.bsky.social @ecsa.bsky.social @efjeurope.bsky.social @egair.eu @ifjglobal.bsky.social

‼Protecting the rights of creators and artists vs generative AI 📄Joint letter to the European Parlament #authorsrights #humanrights europeanwriterscouncil.eu/2506_jl_juri... We urge MEPs to place the key principles of "authorisation, remuneration and transparency at the heart of this report.”

We asked for changes to Italy's AI bill, in defense of creatives. Explicit consent to use artworks. Data transparency. Clear boundaries for scientific research exception. No more AI vexatory clauses in contracts. Proportionate sanctions. Full video: webtv.camera.it/evento/28376 #ai #regulation

We have reached a tentative agreement with the video game bargaining group, which includes some of the largest video game companies in the world, and we are hopeful that our video game strike will be suspended in the coming days. #SagAftraStrong ow.ly/wZzx50W6Lwv

It is not a job for artists to ensure that AI companies can exist. They must fight to exist playing by the same rules as everyone else. Company innovation can happen on many fronts, be it technological, legislative or licensing. But if a business is built on theft, there is no saving it.

You cannot responsibly write about AI without writing about politics. "AI" is an intensely political project, especially in its current formation, where development is led by tech giants that increasingly depend on the state—for contracts, land rights, and, of course, for deregulation.

#StayTrueToTheAct is a collective campaign, a public call from a broad coalition of european authors, performers and rightsholders organizations asking the EU institutions for a meaningful implementation of the EU AI Act, pivoting on the three principles of consent, transparency and remuneration.

Time for Labour MPs to choose: continue appeasing big tech, or side with the Lords & the public and defend creators? Labour MPs have *twice* voted against making AI companies reveal their training data. They now have a final chance to do the right thing. Contact your MP!

Do you live in the UK? Both the US and UK have massively important bills going through votes. NOW is a great time to call your MP and demand that they seek transparency from AI companies training AI. members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

Sir Elton John not holding back today in his anger at the UK government over their plans to hand British creators’ work to AI companies for free. “If you’re going to […] rob young people of their legacy and their income, it’s a criminal offence, I think.” 🧵 1/4 www.theguardian.com/music/2025/m...

I want to remind people that they receive a total of 20 calls per year. If they receive 200 in a single day, they will poop their pants. Call all of them Email all of them Do this every Hour until they understand that your rights are not negotiable

But Karla, does calling even do anything? YES it frickin’ does! I’ve spoken with so many folks in politics and the ONLY thing that can counteract moneyed interests from getting what they pay for is OVERWHELMING public pressure! That’s it! Nothing else! Your calls matter! Your attention matters!

Update: The TERRIBLE 10-Year Ban on State AI Regulations advanced House Committee. What does this mean? It means we BLAST the HELL out of their phones! Call your House Members AND Senators today! Called a few days ago? Call again! Tell them NO on 10-year State AI Regulation Ban! (Info in thread)

this just started and i'm already losing my mind and screaming Western white folk basically putting an AI avatar on stage and pretending it is a refugee from sudan — literally interacting with it as if it is a “woman that fled to chad from sudan” just fucking shoot me

The Trump admin is currently committing an AI coup, trying to seize all powers they need to go uncontested, and firing anyone who resists. They want to replace democracy with AI decision making. Centralizing power in their hands. Call your representatives!!! Do not allow them to ban AI regulation!

🚨 CALL TO ACTION 🚨 Call your US Senators and House Reps IMMEDIATELY! Sen. Cruz (one single US Senator from TX) is trying to say States do not have the power to regulate AI - AT ALL! That nobody anywhere can have any laws for 10yrs. on this.  OUTRAGEOUS! (1/4) www.404media.co/republicans-...

Folks call your Senators now!! A ban on any state laws on GenAi for 10 YEARS is gonna do unthinkable harm! For those of you wondering what to say here are two posts you can use to build your own script (use alt script to cut and paste) Need to find your representatives? Here you go: 5calls.org

Please really do call your congressperson, this is…this is a lot

Good lord just what the hell is up today. A potential ban on any regulation for AI for the next 10 years? This includes good bills like AB 412 of legislation protecting folks from Deepfakes! Wtf?! Call your congressmen and women asap to tell them to take this down! www.404media.co/republicans-...