AI art is stealing even less than piracy is. If copying a digital movie without paying for it isn’t stealing than how is generating a digital image based on thousands of digital images?

Intellectual property is a bad thing. It is a cornerstone of modern capitalism. The arguments for AI art being stealing all hinge on the false premise that intellectual property law is fair, equitable and just and not just a way for capitalists to maintain their monopolies on ideas.

Yes artists deserve to be paid a fair share for their efforts but only as much as everyone else. The issue is that artists are losing control of the means of production. Artists are rightly upset but this should bring them into solidarity with the working classes. Instead they want the working classes to rally to their cause. They want workers, who have had no control over the means of production for hundreds of years, to rise up and fight for the artists right to control their means of production. It’s neo-ludditism they are railing against machines for stealing their jobs instead of railing against the capitalists hoarding all the wealth. It’s individualism bordering on narcissism. It lacks class consciousness.

This topic can be a good entry point for agitation if you have a soft touch. It’s hard to sound like you are on the side of an artist who feels they are being stolen from and convincing them that it is actually not theft while explaining that the fear of losing their livelihood is real but it is a feeling that the entire working class has been battling with for centuries.

Artists visceral feelings about AI are very valuable because most of the working class has been desensitised to their lot in life. If artists were able to use their skills to remind the masses of this injustice it could go a long way to raising class consciousness. But since artists have been separated from the working class by their control of the means of production getting them to pivot can be hard like with any other petit bourgeoisie.