Protecting Your Art

If you are an artist or plan creating 2D art that you plan on posting on the internet, there are tools and methods that can make it so that your art can’t be used by AI algorithms correctly or make it so that your art messes with the AI system entirely. The University of Chicago, for example, has already created two different systems that can alter your art in a way that isn’t visibly noticeable but can result in faulty outputs when used by an AI algorithm. These two systems created by the University of Chicago are both free to use, and are called WebGlaze and NightShade, one being more “defensive” and one being “offensive”. WebGlaze essentially protects your art from being used to create art in your style and can be used in any type of 2D illustration without being noticeable by the human eye. NightShade, in the other hand is designed to modify art in such a way that will obstruct the AI algorithm’s “knowledge” on how things are supposed to look. Although NightShade’s use could help all artists, since it could potentially ruin the use of AI art models, it has the limitation that it is slightly visible in art that uses flat colors. WebGlaze is also more user-friendly, since it is available on a web browser and you don’t need a computer, while NightShade is more intensive and requires a powerful Nvidia GPU. I would recommend using both services if you have the resources to do so, unless your art style involves the use of simple flat colors, in which case I would just use WebGlaze.

Both of these programs are free and available publicly in the following sites:                                                       WebGlaze: https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/what-is-glaze.html

 NightShade: https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/userguide.html