Artist Says They Were Banned Because Their Art Looked Like AI, Even Though They're Human

Ben Moran, a digital artist from Vietnam, wanted to share their newest work on r/Art. They were banned because they were accused of using artificial intelligence to generate the work.

Moran shared a picture of their exchange with one of the forum's admins on the social networking site. The furious moderator shut Moran down after they offered to send a raw AdobePhotoshop file that would be transparent.

"I don't think you're right," the interviewer said. It doesn't matter if you did it yourself or not.

"If you are a serious artist, you need to find a different style, because A) no one is going to believe you when you say it's not artificial intelligence, and B) the artificial intelligence can do better in seconds," they said.

Friendly Fire

The incident is indicative of the anti-ai sentiment sweeping through the art community at large, but at times it can get out of hand.

Many would argue that the use of images from ArtStation without the permission of the artist is theft.

Moran, who runs their own art studio, is against the development of artificial intelligence.

They told Vice that there is no passion if you can do that. All of the artists will lose their passion to create a painting if the development of artificial intelligence is not taken care of.

The development of artificial intelligence is good for industry, not for the art community, they said.

For more pragmatic reasons, the subreddit's moderators are against the use of artificial intelligence.

"We don't necessarily have anything against the sub, but when people are able to make it quickly and easily if it's allowed, it becomes artificial art rather quickly," one person said.

One of Many

In the wake of Moran's story, drama-vulturous trolls began to brigade and spam r/Art.

Moran isn't likely to be unbanned anytime soon. The contemptuousness on display may make them better off.

Due to the threat of artificial intelligence, these kinds of fiascos will become more common.

Artists are protesting against the use of artificial intelligence in their work by sharing their anti-AI logo.