AI in 2023 Faces Commercial Pushback and Ethical Challenges
Artificial intelligence enters 2023 with immense creative potential and serious ethical drawbacks, as generative models spark both new businesses and artist protests.
Artificial intelligence shows both bright promises and dark challenges as it enters the new year. Generative models like Stable Diffusion inspire incredible creativity and new business models, but bad actors exploit this same open source technology to create deepfakes at scale. Meanwhile, artists protest that these systems profit unfairly from their original work without permission or compensation.
The viral success of apps like Lensa guarantees a flood of copycat products in 2023. These consumer tools frequently sexualize women and create non-consensual imagery, amplifying the negative effects of generative AI. Experts predict that integrating these systems into everyday consumer technology will magnify both the beneficial and harmful outcomes for the general public.
This year serves as a critical turning point where generative AI must prove its long-term commercial viability. To become a permanent part of daily life, the technology needs to either generate substantial profits or meaningfully improve everyday routines. As developers push for this mainstream success, artists continue leading efforts to opt out of the data sets that train these controversial systems.