Source+ creates an opt-out tool for AI art-generators

The Future. A new partnership called Spawning is developing the go-to tool for creators to opt-in or out of allowing their work to be used by AI-generative tools. Just launched in beta, the tool, dubbed, Source+, could quell some of the controversies that have grown over  the sudden popularity of AI-generative platforms… and give artists some peace of mind that they are still in control of their output.

Machine unlearning
Input breaks down how a couple is trying to give power back to artists in the age of AI.

• Married couple Mat Dryhurst (an academic) and Holly Herndon (a well-known musician) have teamed with software studio WolfBear on a new partnership called Spawning.
• Their first product, Source+, allows artists to opt-in or out of letting AI databases — Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, etc. — train with their art to create generated images.
• The feature will also be available for musicians and writers and won’t cost a penny for anyone using it.

Spawning has also released a site called “Have I Been Trained,” which allows creators to check if their works are one of the 5.8 billion found in Laion-5b, a dataset used by Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

Choice update
Dryhurst and Herndon already have ample experience in the world of AI. They’ve built neural networks and launched a platform called Holly+ last year that allows people to create songs using deepfaked artists’ voices… but only if they opt-in.

The hope of Source+ is to protect living mid-career artists who are fighting to establish their brand — an ambition that can be harmed by AI tools that are copying their style. The team, based out of Berlin, has already spoken with the developers of many of the main AI-art generators and has received “sympathetic responses.”