It’s no secret that AI models were trained on copyrighted art – without credit or payment to the artists. There’s ongoing debate about whether it’s ethical to use AI tools at all. This doesn’t only concern visual art, but also text-based creation, using tools such as ChatGPT.
I’m a writer, and I use ChatGPT (and occasionally Midjourney) for creative work – though everything I publish is written by me. I don’t believe that artists boycotting AI tools will meaningfully affect either the companies that used copyrighted material unethically or the artists who were harmed in the process.
I also believe that AI holds enormous positive potential – for society and for artists – whether through digital creation, creative brainstorming or using ChatGPT to write marketing copy that helps us be heard and seen. For me, it’s neither practical nor meaningful to reject AI tools entirely, even AI art.
At the same time, I recognise that artists were treated unfairly and face potential financial loss. That’s why, for every AI-generated image I use on this site, in my e-mails or elsewhere, I donate the amount I would have paid for an equivalent stock photo to Paul Klinger Künstlersozialwerk e. V. This is a German organisation that supports artists’ financial well-being.
This is my way of finding a middle ground between using AI in a self-centered, unscrupulous way and rejecting it altogether. I believe these tools can serve a better world if we use them with fairness and intention.