There’s nothing new under the sun, sure, but déja vu within only a couple days is still unexpected.
The digital ink is barely dry on coverage of Reddit and Google coming together to train the latter’s AI on the former’s userbase. Now I get to play the same tune not even a full week later with the announcement that both Automattic companies Tumblr and WordPress are next in line to sign over their users’ creations and conversations to be bought by bots!
The word from Automattic to Engadget is:
“We are also working directly with select AI companies as long as their plans align with what our community cares about: attribution, opt-outs, and control,”
“Our partnerships will respect all opt-out settings. We also plan to take that a step further and regularly update any partners about people who newly opt out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”
It’s a nice way of saying ‘We don’t care what our users want, and we have no power over what’s in the bot hopper if you haven’t opted out before this press release.
Notice that Automattic’s spokesperson said they’d ask for retroactive opt outs? And notice that between Tumblr and WordPress, two platforms heavily skewed towards creatives who stand to be hurt most by generative AI…this deal happened anyway? I’m far from the only one who did.
Critics of the move on tumblr had this to say:
Leidensygdom: Please be aware that the “opt-out” choice is just a way to try to appease people. But Tumblr has not been transparent about when has data been sold and shared with AI companies, and there are sources that confirm that data has already been shared before the toggle was even provided to users.
User Txtletale said: “[sic] all these ‘site X is selling your content to AI companies’ doesn’t mean your content was previously safe it just means that the platforms are seeing an opportunity to set themselves off as middlemen rent seekers and funnel off some of the unlimited VC-funded AI money “
Scathing stuff, but not entirely undeserved.
Artists have announced that they’re leaving the platform for greener pastures, but the reality is—as soon as whatever new platform they transfer to gets a big enough userbase, most likely the same thing will happen. Most models don’t work on any kind of subscription or donation model, and well…server rooms don’t keep themselves on.
Directly monetizing a base via outide partners isn’t new; but people who take time to make and share their art, especially as a means to earning their own living, are going to be extra raw about it.
Whether their ire will be worth stoking is up in the air. There’s not very much millions of users can or will do aside from taking individual protective measures. Access to data is nothing without the ability to wield it. We’ll see if this model of money making becomes a double edged sword or a coffin nail soon enough.
You can't spell "Together" without TGOT: That Goth Over There. Staff Writer, April Bingham, is that goth; and she's all about building bridges— both metaphorically between artistry and entrepreneurship, and literally with tools she probably shouldn't be allowed to learn how to use.
