Thousands of artists call for AI auction to be cancelled over ‘mass theft’ of work

Thousands of artists have called for an AI art auction to be cancelled, saying it further incentivises the “mass theft of human artists’ work.”

More than 3,000 artists signed an open letter expressing “serious concern” over the auction which is due to be held at Christie’s in New York later this month.

The artwork ranges in price from $10,000 (£8,000) to $250,000 (£202,000), and “incorporates” artificial intelligence in a variety of mediums including paintings, sculptures and digital art, according to Christie’s website.

The petition states that “many” of the artworks set to be auctioned “were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a licence.”

“These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them,” it said.

The artists say the auction company’s “support of these models, and the people who use them, rewards and further incentivises AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work.”

However, Christie’s say the augmented intelligence auction highlights the “breadth and quality of AI art.”

They say the auction “redefines the evolution of art and technology, exploring human agency in the age of AI within fine art.”

Ed Newton Rex, founder of Fairly Trained – a non-profit which certifies AI companies for training data practices that respect creators’ rights – says while he doesn’t want to fault the artists, he questions if these practices are something Christie’s should condone.

Speaking to ITV News, he said generative AI models are built by “taking huge amounts of other people’s copyrighted work” which trains models to be able to “create new work in similar styles and doing that without asking permission and without paying for it.”

He says these models are competing with human artists, and that data already suggests that human creators are “suffering” as a result.

Out of the artworks being sold, eight or nine artists appear to have used these AI models, he said.

He added: “I think that by featuring these works and by selling them for estimated prices of $70,000 (£56,000) to $250,000 (£202,000), these are sums that are astronomical.

“I think it’s a real error of judgement to implicitly condone these models, which I think the auction clearly does.

“I do think that Christie’s should seriously reconsider selling these works that use these clearly exploitative models trained by these vast AI companies who are taking artists work.”

ITV News has approached Christie’s for a comment.

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