Yatsufusa 2024-07-23 23:57:48

I must admit that, while the state of affairs over on dA is a rather sad topic, I found the last part hilarious, so it might kind of overshadow how grim my 'writer's face' "aught to look" when typing this. But I don't want to wait to get back to normal, because you're tackling an important topic there... Sorry if my 'tone' seems too relaxed.

You have to keep in mind: DeviantArt's AI "problem" is entirely homemade.
Not only did they bring it on themselves; they _intentionally_ caused it.

From my perspective, they are taking the 'Facebook-approach' to users: Users aren't the customers - they are the _product_. By fueling their own AI with original art from _consenting*_ artists, they are going to own one of the first _legal_ AI to generate images. Their approach to community management has historically been in the pits and their moderatiomn team only ever cared about who cried the loudest (meaning: Whoever created more sock puppet accounts is the original artist in cases of stolen art...)

Their site-management's thoughts would be: "It prints money - so we are now a marketplace for AI-generated images! Now why would be care about the artists behind the art we use? They cannot permanently leave the site they are familiar with without taking a massive blow themselves."

There is a quote about a similar situation, but I'm failing to find it - or a professional English translation. It goes something like this:
"For a hundred wars there is a single revolution - that's how hard the erect posture of man is to hold."
– {{Citation needed}}

* As I understand the situation, via their ToS, even users who left the site and dead people consent...

Yatsufusa 2024-07-25 01:41:24

That's what it will boil down to: More artists on NG.

Not to sound too jaded, but that will also mean a greater influx of the kind of people that we 'don't' want: People who generate audio tracks with 'Suno AI', self-important assholes, children (NG is 13+), adults acting like children when their "first te4st" gets blammed in the Games or Movie Portal, more Ad-bots, data collectors... "The lot!"
All putting a massive strain on the moderation staff, ultimately leading to NG locking a ton of features behind supporter status (by necessity!) or putting a one-time fee on registering a new account.

In summary: It's a sorry state of affairs. I feel like the Newgrounds community is going to pay the price of other sites shortsightedness and greed. So in that context: I hope dA never makes any backups and that their server center burns down... ;p