Two months ago, I wrote an article about how AI art programs such as Midjourney were ruining art by taking the human factor away from them. I thought that would be the end of it but I was horribly wrong. Enter Lensa.
Over the last month, people have been using Lensa, an app that turns your selfies into “art” pieces. It gained popularity over the last month because of its use of selfies. However, the art community was quick to point out every issue behind the app, especially its use of Stable Diffusion.
The app runs on Stable Diffusion, which is similar to other AI art programs currently out there, as it usually steals art from the internet in order to train its AI. The program was modified for Lensa so it can use pictures rather than word prompts. Because the majority of the people using the app aren’t connected to the art community, they don’t understand what their actions are doing. They don’t understand the work that most artists go through to make a piece. And for an app to steal it so the general public can make something for social media feels like a slap in the face.
I’m cropping these for privacy reasons/because I’m not trying to call out any one individual. These are all Lensa portraits where the mangled remains of an artist’s signature is still visible. That’s the remains of the signature of one of the multiple artists it stole from.
A 🧵 https://t.co/0lS4WHmQfW pic.twitter.com/7GfDXZ22s1
— Lauryn Ipsum (@LaurynIpsum) December 6, 2022
On top of that, some of the images that are on Stable Diffusion’s database are highly inappropriate which can make some pictures a lot more suggestive than they should’ve been. Also, people were quick to notice butchered signatures on some images, which act as proof of theft.
The trend is slowing down but people are still using it. If someone wanted an art piece of themself, they should commission a human artist to do it for them. They spent years practicing their craft and knowing how to make a good art piece. They will make something that can’t be done with AI (provided that their work hasn’t been stolen yet).