An internet group that creates pornographic images using artificial intelligence was kicked off fund-raising platforms Kickstarter and Patreon after raising nearly $60,000 following complaints from social media users.
Unstable Diffusion describes itself as an online community of artists “dedicated to the creation and sharing of AI generated NSFW [not suitable for work content].”
The group uses open source text-to-image generating systems that were popularized by online groups such as Stable Diffusion and Dance Diffusion.
Last year, the AI-powered technology DALL-E, which generates digital images from text descriptions, took the internet by storm.
“Unstable Diffusion is a group dedicated to spreading free and expressive AI usage, born out of a grassroots community effort to reject the limiting rules of corporate AI companies,” the group says on its web site.
Unstable Diffusion has generated a massive following on the social media app Discord.
Last month, Unstable Diffusion launched a Kickstarter campaign which raised more than $56,000.
But the campaign was shut down after social media users protested alleged theft of copyrighted material.
Unstable Diffusion’s Patreon account, which generated some $2,500 a month from donors, was also shut down.
The Post has sought comment from Patreon. A Kickstarter spokesperson referred The Post to a blog item from the company’s CEO.
“Over the last several days, we’ve engaged our Community Advisory Council and we’ve read your feedback to us via our team and social media,” said Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor wrote in a blog post.
“And one thing is clear: Kickstarter must, and will always be, on the side of creative work and the humans behind that work. We’re here to help creative work thrive.”
“This tech is really new, and we don’t have all the answers,” Taylor wrote.
“The decisions we make now might not be the ones we make in the future, so we want this to be an ongoing conversation with all of you.”
Stable Diffusion users were accused of ripping off Greg Rutkowski, the illustrator behind popular franchises such as “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Magic: The Gathering.”
The use of AI-powered technology has stoked controversy.
Earlier this week, New York City’s Department of Education banned the use of ChatGPT, an AI-powered “chat bot” that was allegedly used by students to cheat on tests.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
